How to drive scheme productivity

But how can trustees, who have relatively few meetings and mounting time pressures, drive productivity and efficiency in their governance processes?

The chancellor told the City: “We don’t export enough; we don’t train enough; we don’t save enough; we don’t invest enough; we don’t manufacture enough; we certainly don’t build enough, and far too much of the economic activity in our nation is concentrated here in the centre of London.”

Trustees need to push the board so [they] have a far greater input into what's on the agenda, how it is run, who presents which item and how that is then fed through… the trustee needs to be working with advisers to be getting the right advice at the right time

Chris Roberts, Dalriada

Meanwhile, trustees of occupational pension schemes across the UK have worked tirelessly to meet the demands of numerous new requirements over recent months.

Defined contribution boards will no doubt be looking forward to a much-needed summer break after a busy period embedding the new pension freedoms into their governance processes.

Ongoing work tackling deficits, and planning ahead for the cessation of contracting-out will also be keeping defined benefit trustees more than occupied.

Despite a tough first half of 2015, many schemes could benefit from taking heed of Osborne's warning, streamlining as they set their sights on the next round of objectives amid increasingly challenging economic conditions.  

Make meetings count

David Hosford, partner at professional trustee company PTL, said schemes at the smaller end of the market could use professional trustees to drive efficiency.

“[Professional trustees] know the market for advisers, they know if they’re getting a good price and a good service, they can compare things quite easily,” he said.

Hosford said larger schemes could improve processes by making use of subcommittees.

“I think using subcommittees is much more efficient, the classic one is investment," he said.

"Some schemes will do it for the accounts or if they’re redoing documentation. They might have a different subcommittee that would work on new scheme rules."

Hosford also put forward the case for schemes to review the number of meetings held each year, particularly during busy periods.

“Where you’ve reviewed strategies and you’re repositioning… you may need to meet much more frequently,” he said.

Chris Roberts, trustee representative at professional trustee company Dalriada, said trustee boards need to maximise the value of every meeting.

“You don’t want to be cramming a meeting into three hours,” he said.

“If you've got a full trustee agenda, the running time shouldn't be set by how long you've booked a meeting room, it should be set by how long you believe you need to move through all the items."

Roberts said boards should project-manage tasks using subcommittees and appoint a strong chair to drive activity both within meetings and during interim periods.

“Trustees need to push the board so [they] have a far greater input into what's on the agenda, how it is run, who presents which item and how that is then fed through," he said.

"Instead of the adviser driving the trustee along, the trustee needs to be working with advisers to be getting the right advice at the right time."

Collaboration

However, David Weeks, committee member of the Association of Member Nominated Trustees, said there was a danger in trustees “going hell-bent” on efficiency.

“People haven’t got two opportunities to get it right,” said Weeks. “If you get it wrong on behalf of members they could be very seriously put out.

“You’ve got to make sure the member view is represented. It’s all very well if you just let the professionals loose on it with the view that business could be transacted more efficiently, but you’ve then got the governance issues."

Weeks said it was important to closely align the interests of lay and professional trustees.

“It would be a useful activity to encourage the two sides to work together,” he said.