Ten asset managers overseeing a total of $8 trillion in assets including Schroders, Hermes Investment Management and Axa Investment Management have agreed 8 questions to out to boards. The 8 questions are:
1. In simple terms, what is the company in business to deliver and for whom? How does that differentiate you?
2. What does success look like and how do you measure and review it?
3. How does your pay policy link to long-term success?
4. How are your board discussions and agenda anchored to your purpose? Can you give some examples of how your purpose has changed your decisions?
5. What positive and negative impacts does your company have on society? How are you maintaining your ‘licence to operate’?
6. How are your people? Can you give examples of how you have responded to specific concerns?
7. Which external relationships are most important to achieving your purpose (e.g. customer, supplier, regulatory)? What key measures do you use to assess the strength of these?
8. [For Chairs] How do you as a board know you are doing a good job?
The initiative convened by the charity A Blueprint for Better Business and the full publication can be downloaded click here.