More than 80% of the financial assets in the United States fall under the purview of a trustee. That's a big responsibility for an estimated 1% (around 1.5 million people) of the U.S. working population charged with overseeing investments for millions and millions of beneficiaries, public sector, and non-profit organizations. In a world proliferated by investment products, increasingly dominated by indexes, faced—particularly in the pension world—with increasing liabilities, more regulation, and a growing number of social and sustainability objectives, what's a trustee to do? The Trustee Governance Guide is here to help guide today’s board trustee through the brave new world of 21st century investing. The book focuses on the critical aspects of the Five Imperatives: Governance, Knowledge, Diversification, Discipline, and Impact. Based on more than a decade of research, practice, and discussions with many key decision makers and influencers across the industry, this book addresses the many topics related to better governance, greater mission-driven financial performance, and impact. The questions the book addresses include: · What is good governance, how do we know it when we see it, and why does it matter? · How much knowledge is necessary to be a competent board member? · How big should my endowment be? · What are the key elements of a diversified portfolio? · How much does cost matter? · What's the difference between socially responsible and ESG investing? · Can I focus on sustainability and still be a good fiduciary? This book provides a way for boards to improve and benchmark their own governance performance alongside their peers, and uniquely covers related investment topics in each chapter.

"By far the best book on corporate and institutional governance." —Nicholas Katzenbach, former attorney general of the United States In his new foreword to The Board Book, former Mellon Foundation and Princeton University president William G. Bowen brings his immense experience to bear on the most pressing questions facing boards of directors and trustees today: seeking collaborative relationships and placing a renewed emphasis on sustainable initiatives. The strategies Bowen relates throughout the book foster the collegiality and sense of purpose—more important in today’s turbulent times than ever before—that are integral to any effective board.

The Trustee Guide to Investment is a unique and refreshingly practical guide to the expanding range of markets, investments, tools and techniques to which pension scheme trustees must now become familiar.

Build a more effective board with insight from the forefront of corporate governance The Handbook of Board Governance provides comprehensive, expert-led coverage of all aspects of corporate governance for public, nonprofit, and private boards. Written by collaboration among subject matter experts, this book combines academic rigor and practitioner experience to provide thorough guidance and deep insight. From diversity, effectiveness, and responsibilities, to compensation, succession planning, and financial literacy, the topics are at once broad-ranging and highly relevant to current and aspiring directors. The coverage applies to governance at public companies, private and small or medium companies, state-owned enterprises, family owned organizations, and more, to ensure complete and clear guidance on a diverse range of issues. An all-star contributor list including Ram Charan, Bob Monks, Nell Minow, and Mark Nadler, among others, gives you the insight of thought leaders in the areas relevant to your organization. A well-functioning board is essential to an organization’s achievement. Whether the goal is furthering a mission or dominating a market, the board’s composition, strategy, and practices are a determining factor in the organization’s ultimate success. This guide provides the information essential to building a board that works. Delve into the board’s strategic role in value creation Gain useful insight into compensation, risk, accountability, legal obligations Understand the many competencies required of an effective director Get up to speed on blind spots, trendspotting, and social media in the board room The board is responsible for a vast and varied collection of duties, but the singular mission is to push the organization forward. Poor organization, one-sided composition, inefficient practices, and ineffective oversight detract from that mission, but all can be avoided. The Handbook of Board Governance provides practical guidance and expert insight relevant to board members across the spectrum.

Practical resources for building cohesive governance teams As a supplement to the best-selling The Governance Core, this practical guide will help trustees and superintendents adopt a governance mindset and partnership that creates coherence throughout the district. With a systems thinking approach, the authors provide readers with the strategies and tools needed to build cohesive teams and engage in deeper learning and decision making. The Taking Action Guide for the Governance Core offers readers: • a deeper understanding of core governance and how to build it • a planning guide to help new trustees get started • protocols and sample agendas for focusing on strategy and systems during open board meetings Educational leaders will find this guide offers them a foundation for building strong, flourishing school districts that are equipped to adapt to and meet the daunting challenges of our time.

This handbook offers clear and practical guidance for trustees of voluntary organisations. It offers basic information about the responsibilities of trustee boards, and straightforward advice on planning, getting funding, and management.

Being a member of the Board of Trustees for a private school is certainly an honor. You are asked to take into your care a school--to ensure that each student's education fulfills the school's mission, and that all students are nurtured and developed to their benefit. You must carry out that care by providing support-resources-to the School Head. Your relationship to the school-as with all Trustees--determines whether your school will be successful in the long term.Being a Board member is also somewhat puzzling. If you're like many Trustees, you're not sure how it happened. Maybe you were approached at a social event. Maybe another Board member had talked to you a while ago about it on the phone; you may even have forgotten the conversation. Maybe you were serving on a committee and this seemed the next logical step. You've become a private school Trustee.Now what?This book is based on more than four decades of working with the Boards of hundreds of private schools. Independent School Management (ISM) has honed its research and recommendations over those years to provide the best possible service to our schools. We hope you'll find the following theory and advice valuable as you better prepare your Board to plan for your school's future. Chapters include: * The Role of the Trustee* The Board's Foundation and Strategic Structures* Understanding Private School Finances* Strategic Planning and Strategic Financial Planning* The ISM Stability Markers* Purpose and Outcome Statements* ISM Success Predictors* Recruiting and Orienting Board Members* The Board Committees* Board Meetings and Other Functions* Board-School Head Relationships* The Board's Role in Fundraising* Strategic Board Assessment* A Sample Board Commitment and Trustee HandbookIndependent School Management (ISM) is a family owned company dedicated to the advancement of private school management. ISM reaches over 7,000 private-independent schools, and serves over 200,000 students annually with advice, assistance, and creative solutions. Administrators in private schools of all types and sizes turn to ISM for advice and assistance on an array of management challenges, including student recruitment and retention, fundraising, strategic and long-range planning, Board-Head relations, personnel, plant expansion, mergers, leadership training, and creative insurance solutions.This book is based on more than four decades of working with the Boards of hundreds of private schools. We've honed our research and recommendations over those years to provide the best possible service to our schools. We hope you'll find the following theory and advice valuable as you better prepare your Board to plan for your school's future