Achieving Investment Excellence

Acknowledgments

This book did not materialize overnight; a succession of articles, presentations, and papers have shaped our thinking over the years, inspired by first-hand experience, sharing dilemmas and insights with trustees, investment managers and regulators.

Sharing numerous discussions and experiences with trustees, acquired when giving courses, serving on pension funds' boards or assisting boards advisory projects on strategies, we were regularly struck by how much the investment profession has evolved in the past 40 years. Portfolio techniques have evolved; risk management too, supported by an ever-increasing need and supply of information. One thing is clear though: new texts and insights that keep up with the changing markets and role of trustees are needed, integrating the new insights in portfolio management with investment governance in such a way that trustees and board keep on excelling.

Our minds were first opened to the importance of boards and governance by Roger Urwin and Gordon Clark. Their thinking formed and still forms a great source of inspiration. Roger very much likes to refer to the importance of “the soft stuff” of leadership and governance, which is so often overlooked in investing. In addition, Keith Ambachtsheer with his ongoing plea for the importance of strong pension fund governance has been a source of wisdom for us. Among other people that should be mentioned here is Ashby Monk, with whom Jaap had a conversation on the importance of trust ...