Fiduciary primer 

Investment committees that are tasked with governing institutional asset pools face many challenges: knowledge requirements, resource and time scarcity, the growing complexity of the investment landscape, and heightened litigation risk. With these hurdles in mind, there are some basic guidelines that may assist committee members in fulfilling their fiduciary roles.

Mercer’s experience over several decades has given us a differentiated perspective on the inner workings of investment committee meetings. We’ve observed many types of meetings: those that are tightly focused, with clear decisions made, and those where decisions are deferred continually or there is gridlock.

It is these insights, gleaned from working with a variety of committees, that led us to create the Mercer Fiduciary Primer, setting forth what we believe to be the central requirements for and responsibilities of an effective and engaged committee member.