ITS - Trustee Governance Survey

Trustee Governance Survey

Independent Trustee Services is a key player in the independent pension scheme trustee arena.

We are carrying out a survey with trustees to gauge how confident they feel about some governance aspects of their scheme.

Your input in this questionnaire will only take around 10 minutes to complete. We would also like to stress that we will be amalgamating all the replies to this survey for general research purposes and we will NOT use any individual responses for any reason. If you wish, the survey can be completed anonymously (unless you choose to enter your name).

As an incentive for you to complete the survey, the names of five lucky respondents, who chose to enter their name, will be drawn at random to win a case of fine wine each.

Thank you for taking part.

If you would like to learn more about how Independent Trustee Services Limited can help support your pension scheme, please go to the following website www.itslimited.org.uk

Please return this survey to us by Friday 5 December 2008

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1. How confident are you in your ability to recognise conflicts of interest?

	Not at all
	Not very
	Fairly
	Very

2. How confident are you that your scheme has appropriate policies and processes for identifying and managing conflicts of interest?

	Not at all
	Not very
	Fairly
	Very

3. How confident are you that your trust board has the right balance of skills, experience and knowledge for effective decision-making?

	Not at all
	Not very
	Fairly
	Very

4. How confident are you in challenging your scheme advisers?

	Not at all
	Not very
	Fairly
	Very

5. How confident are you in the clarity of advice provided by your scheme advisers?

	Not at all
	Not very
	Fairly
	Very

6. How confident are you that the resource/time available for Trustee training in your scheme is sufficient to meet your individual needs?

	Not at all
	Not very
	Fairly
	Very

7. How confident are you that the resource/time available for the Trustee training of the Board as a whole is sufficient to meet its needs?

	Not at all
	Not very
	Fairly
	Very

8. Have you completed the Regulators Trustee Toolkit?

	Yes
	No

9. How confident are you in the financial strength of the sponsoring employer?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

10. How confident are you in your ability to identify the factors and information that inform your judgement of the strength of the employer covenant?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

11. Have you agreed a process with the Sponsor to enable you to monitor the Employer's Covenant effectively on a regular basis in the future?

	Yes
	No

12. Have you engaged professional advisers to conduct a formal independent covenant review?

	Yes
	No

13. How confident are you in the quality of investment advice you receive?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

14. How confident are you that you understand the investment advice presented to you?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

15. How confident are you in your ability and understanding to decide the assumptions to be used in scheme specific funding?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

16. How confident are you in the actuarial advice you receive to help you decide on assumptions such as mortality?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

17. How confident are you that you understand the actuarial advice presented to you?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

18. How confident are you in your ability to negotiate robustly with the Sponsor to agree Funding Assumptions and a Recovery Plan?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

19. How confident are you that the trustees have a clear understanding of the key events/decisions they face across the next 12 months?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

20. How confident are you that you have identified the key risks associated with your Scheme?

	Not at all
	Not Very
	Fairly
	Very

21. What keeps you awake at night about your scheme?

22. Please provide approximate details of your scheme:

Fund size (£m)
Number of active members
Number of deferred members
Number of pensioners
Number of trustees

23. If you would like to receive a copy of the results of the Survey, please provide your name and e-mail address:

Name
Company
Address
Email

Free Prize Draw Terms and Conditions

The free Prize Draw to win a case of wine is free and open to all who fully complete their questionnaire and return it to Independent Trustee Services Ltd

The closing date for receipt of entries is Friday 5 December 2008.

The Prize Draw will be held in the week commencing Monday 8 December 2008.

Completed surveys are eligible for one Prize Draw entry only.

The winner will be notified by telephone or mail within 2 weeks from the draw date. Further details are available from Russell Clarke on 020 7528 4892.

The winner’s name and county address can be identified after Friday 12 December 2008 by sending a stamped addressed envelope to: Russell Clarke, Independent Trustee Services Ltd, One America Square, London EC3N 2JL. Please state the date of the Prize Draw for which you require information.

Employees of Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group companies are not eligible to enter.

No cash alternative is available.

Independent Trustee Services Limited cannot accept responsibility for entries that are lost or delayed.

No purchase is necessary.

The draws will be attended by an independent observer to ensure fair play.