Faced with more frequent committee turnover and increasingly uncertain markets, many plan sponsors are strengthening onboarding, succession planning and ongoing education to help committee members provide effective oversight from day one.

The role of an investment committee member is no longer simply to sign off on an investment manager’s recommendations, says Emilian Groch, an independent investment adviser who serves on several investment committees, including the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation.

“The role has evolved to become more involved with management, helping them understand the issues, develop response plans and challenge the outsourced investment managers who come in with recommendations.”

Turnover and term limits

Planned turnover also makes succession planning increasingly important, he notes.

“Proper succession planning is essential. You don’t want to bring someone in for a year; they’re just really starting to get a feel of things and then they’re gone.”

Read: What can DC pension committees learn from DB plan governance?

Bruce Winch, chair of the investment committee for the Canadian YMCA Retirement Fund and other investment committees, agrees that turnover isn’t accidental. “Most investment committees are reducing their term limits right now, which I think is great because it really allows fresh thoughts for the committee.”

In fact, the Ontario Securities Commission recently introduced three-year term limits for........

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