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Fiduciary Benchmarking
As a leading pension governance advisory firm, Cortex Applied Research offers Fiduciary Benchmarking, a service specifically designed to help plan administrators and plan sponsors understand and benchmark their governance and management practices relative to peer group practices and published standards.
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We were impressed with the content and the amount of intellectual thought that went into the Study. The Study exceeded our expectations.
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Topics covered by Cortex’s Fiduciary Benchmarking Study include, but are not limited to:
- Board committee structures, composition, and meeting practices
- Fiduciary education and orientation practices
- Delineation of key pension duties, such as:
- Responsibility for selecting vendors and performing due diligence
- Responsibility for hiring and directing staff
- Performance evaluation practices involving management, vendors, and the Board
- Policy frameworks
- Conflict of interest policies/codes of conduct
- Internal reporting and monitoring practices
- Risk management practices
- Public and plan member disclosure practices
- Other issues to be identified in consultation with the study participants themselves
In total, there are over 400 data points covered by the Benchmarking Study.
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The Study was a tremendous tool and very valuable to us. The research was excellent, and all the literature was brought together in one place. We have never seen anything else like this in the market, and I’m really glad OPB participated. Every plan should be in this Study.
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Participants are placed into an appropriate peer group according to their size and sector (e.g., public, multi-employer, corporate plan, etc.). Participants are then asked to provide data through an on-line survey tool and through a follow-up interview. Participants in the Study will receive a customized report (approximately 70 pages in length) containing:
- A profile of their pension governance structure and practices
- An analysis of their governance practices relative to those of their peers and to recognized governance standards (e.g. CAPSA Governance Guidelines, the Clapman Principles, and the OECD Guidelines for Pension Fund Governance)
- Issues for their consideration
- An Executive Summary
- A meeting by telephone with a representative of Cortex to review the report
Presentations to boards and committee on the results of the study can also be arranged at an additional cost.
Fiduciary Benchmarking provides pension executives with valuable information they may use to:
- Enhance their fiduciary, investment, and operational risk management practices
- Help achieve continuous improvement in investment performance and member service
- Provide informed and timely responses to their boards, plan sponsors, and other stakeholders concerning how their practices compare to peers and to external standards
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For further information, please contact Tom Iannucci or Michael Long by e-mail or by phone at (416) 967-0252 ext. 223 and ext. 233 respectively.
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