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(December-2003) Need help? Call your service provider!
Super funds looking to boost the skills of their trustees and staff can always rely on some help from their asset consultants and other service providers.
Some, like Mercer offer a formal training program while others provide support through other means.
InTech’s Brett Elvish says: “While we do not offer training as a formal service, it is certainly a very relevant component of our role in working with trustees. We want to make sure that the trustees that drive investment decisions understand the market, managers and the relevance and importance of the decisions they make.”
InTech’s ‘training’ can take many forms, including presentations on relevant investment issues at trustee meetings, investment research lunches and the running of specific on-site training for trustees on all aspects of the investment process.
For its part, JANA Investment Advisers provides educational assistance to trustees via board meetings, articles and research reports, quarterly reports and the JANA conference. It also participates in educational sessions at some of the administrators’ conferences upon request.
In addition to organising an annual three day conference which attracts around 150 delegates, Russell holds luncheons throughout the year where the guest speaker might be a fund manager or a visiting CIO from the USA. It also has a range of presentations with titles like “The Art of Hiring and Firing Investment Managers”, “Active vs Passive”, and “Defining Good Corporate Governance”.
Russell has a special clients-only web site, called ClientLink, and runs ‘webcasts’ where trustees are given a link and can log in and view a presentation, and even interact with the speaker.
In addition to other forms of support, Mercer runs a special “hands on” training program. It is conducted as a mock trustee meeting and run in small groups to encourage active participation and discussion.
Topics are presented by specialists in fields like legal, investments, communications and financial planning. Case studies are used to put skills to practical use.
Meanwhile, industry Fund Services has been providing a host of professional development courses across the country for the past four years with its materials structured more towards the needs of the field staff of the funds. The courses cover administration techniques, investment options and retirement income products.
AUTHOR
Zilla Efrat
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