Pension Fund Governance and Accountability Training Course

Participants can identify fiduciary duties and translate them into trustee decision requirements.

• Fiduciary duty principles: loyalty, prudence, care and impartiality
• Acting solely for members' interests within fund rules
• Duty of skill, care and diligence in trustee decisions
• Collective board responsibility and individual trustee accountability
• Delegation limits under fiduciary responsibility and governing instruments
• Decision records demonstrating informed, independent and prudent judgement

Participants can construct a decision-rights map for a pension fund governance structure.

• RACI matrices for board, committee, management and provider responsibilities
• Delegated authority schedules with financial and operational thresholds
• Committee mandates for investment, audit, risk and administration
• Reserved matters requiring full board approval and documented challenge
• Escalation paths for breaches, losses, complaints and conflicts
• Segregation of duties across approval, execution and reconciliation activities

Participants can assess board and committee effectiveness using structured governance criteria.

• Board composition, independence, diversity and competency requirements
• Skills matrices identifying governance, investment, actuarial and legal gaps
• Annual board calendars aligned with statutory and fiduciary duties
• Agenda design separating decisions, oversight, information and strategic discussion
• Meeting minutes recording rationale, challenge, dissent and follow-up actions
• Board evaluations using self-assessment, peer feedback and external review

Participants can establish conflict controls that protect independent pension fund decisions.

• Conflict categories: actual, potential, perceived and recurring interests
• Conflict registers capturing interests, declarations, actions and review dates
• Recusal procedures for conflicted trustees, officers and advisers
• Gifts, hospitality and inducement policies with approval thresholds
• Related-party transactions assessed through independent review and disclosure
• Code of conduct provisions for confidentiality, integrity and respectful challenge

Participants can apply risk and control frameworks to core pension fund activities.

• ISO 31000 risk process: context, assessment, treatment and monitoring
• Risk appetite statements linked to funding, investment and operational objectives
• COSO internal control components applied to pension fund processes
• Risk registers specifying causes, controls, owners and residual ratings
• Key risk indicators triggering committee review and management escalation
• Control testing plans for contributions, payments, data and investment transactions

Participants can evaluate investment governance arrangements against documented member objectives.

• Statement of Investment Principles defining objectives, constraints and governance
• Strategic asset allocation linked to liabilities, horizon and risk tolerance
• Investment committee oversight of mandates, fees and manager appointments
• Manager due diligence covering process, people, performance and operational controls
• Benchmark design distinguishing market returns from active management results
• Investment decision logs recording assumptions, alternatives and approval rationale

Participants can challenge investment performance and fee reporting using relevant measures.

• Time-weighted and money-weighted returns for different performance questions
• Performance attribution separating allocation, selection and interaction effects
• Risk-adjusted measures: Sharpe ratio, tracking error and information ratio
• Fee reporting covering management fees, transaction costs and carried interest
• Watchlist criteria for underperforming investment managers and mandates
• Quarterly investment dashboards linking returns, risks, fees and actions

Participants can oversee actuarial advice and funding decisions through informed governance questions.

• Actuarial valuation purpose, data inputs, assumptions and certification
• Funding policies connecting contribution rates, deficits and recovery plans
• Discount rate, mortality and salary assumptions affecting liabilities
• Sensitivity analysis for interest rates, inflation and longevity changes
• Actuary appointment, independence, scope and communication requirements
• Board questions testing valuation uncertainty and funding sustainability

Participants can interpret financial reports and identify governance questions arising from them.

• Financial statements: net assets, contributions, benefits and investment income
• Cash flow monitoring for benefit payments, expenses and liquidity needs
• Budget governance for administration, advisers, technology and projects
• Variance analysis distinguishing timing differences from control failures
• Going-concern assessments for pension funds and sponsoring entities
• Financial reporting calendars aligning management, audit and statutory deadlines

Participants can assess administration controls, service levels and member-data governance.

• Administration operating model covering enrolment, contributions, benefits and queries
• Service-level agreements defining accuracy, timeliness and complaint measures
• Data governance roles for ownership, quality, retention and correction
• Reconciliations between payroll, contribution records, bank accounts and member ledgers
• Benefit payment controls preventing errors, fraud and unauthorised changes
• Administrator dashboards reporting backlogs, exceptions, errors and service trends

Participants can design oversight arrangements for outsourced pension fund services.

• Provider selection criteria covering capability, independence, controls and financial resilience
• Contract clauses for scope, reporting, audit rights and termination
• Due diligence reviews of custodians, administrators, consultants and investment managers
• Service-provider scorecards measuring delivery, incidents, remediation and satisfaction
• Third-party assurance reports: ISAE 3402 scope, exceptions and limitations
• Exit plans protecting records, assets, data and continuity arrangements

Participants can plan disclosures that provide members with clear, decision-useful information.

• Disclosure principles: accuracy, clarity, timeliness, comparability and accessibility
• Annual reports explaining governance, investments, costs and funded status
• Member communications distinguishing statutory notices from explanatory materials
• Plain-language testing for benefits, fees, risks and retirement options
• Disclosure controls supporting approval, version management and publication evidence
• Complaint trend reporting identifying recurring member communication failures

Participants can prepare decision-grade reports that support board challenge and accountability.

• Board paper structure: decision sought, recommendation, evidence, risks and alternatives
• Dashboard design using thresholds, trends, exceptions and accountable owners
• Key performance indicators for investments, administration, funding and governance
• Traffic-light reporting supported by definitions, evidence and escalation criteria
• Information quality checks for completeness, accuracy, timeliness and relevance
• Action trackers assigning owners, deadlines, status and closure evidence

Participants can coordinate assurance activity and respond effectively to audit and regulatory findings.

• Three Lines Model roles for management, risk, compliance and internal audit
• Annual audit plans based on risk assessment and control maturity
• Audit findings classified by severity, root cause and agreed remediation
• Management action plans with owners, milestones and verification evidence
• Regulatory inspection preparation using governance records and reporting trails
• Assurance maps identifying duplicate reviews and untested material risks

Participants can strengthen arrangements for detecting, reporting and investigating misconduct.

• Fraud risk assessment for contributions, benefits, investments and procurement
• Red flags for pension scams, identity fraud and payment diversion
• Whistleblowing channels protecting confidentiality, anonymity and non-retaliation
• Investigation protocols preserving evidence, independence and procedural fairness
• Incident reporting thresholds for boards, regulators, members and insurers
• Lessons-learned reviews converting incidents into control improvements

Participants can conduct a structured governance review and prioritise corrective actions.

• Governance maturity assessments across structure, people, process and information
• Gap analysis against fund rules, policies, standards and regulatory expectations
• Root-cause analysis using five whys and cause-and-effect diagrams
• Prioritisation matrices weighing member impact, risk, effort and urgency
• Improvement roadmaps assigning actions, sponsors, measures and target dates
• Annual governance review reports for boards and external stakeholders

Participants can build, review and present a complete pension fund governance improvement pack for board approval.

• Governance map defining bodies, delegated authorities and accountability chains
• Risk and control register covering material pension fund exposures
• Conflicts register and ethics controls for trustees and advisers
• Board dashboard integrating investment, funding, administration and conduct indicators
• Governance gap assessment with prioritised corrective action roadmap
• Committee presentation defending recommendations, evidence, costs and implementation priorities