Investment Governance

The cornerstone of our governance framework is our independent Investment Advisory Committee.

Our governance promise means that all of our investment options offered  through our pensions business have a formal review process.

Governance

Terms of Reference

View a copy of the Investment Advisory Committee Terms of Reference

The board of Royal London has ultimate control over the running of the pension assets for our customers. So how do we ensure that investors' best interests are met?

Investment Advisory Committee

The Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) reports into the Board Investment Committee, whose remit covers every aspect of the running of our Unit Linked fund range. Critically the committee operates independently of Royal London Asset Management (RLAM), who have day-to-day running of the our internal funds

The Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) meets on a regular, usually quarterly, basis to review our risk-graded Governed Range. Their review covers the following types of questions:

  • What is the best blend of assets to meet our customers' objectives?
  • The outlook for the economy is concerning, how should we change their asset mix?
  • The long-term fundamentals for one asset class has changed, should the best mix change?
  • There has been a change of fund manager, would it be best to switch funds?
  • Should the amount invested in UK and overseas equities be changed?

This process is deliberately about taking a long-term view to ensure that investment decisions are based on sound fundamentals.

To help the IAC make these decisions, they review a substantial amount of material each time. This includes confidential fund reports from Morningstar Investment Management, a comprehensive risk report from Moody's Analytics and market commentary from Royal London Asset Management, who manage the internal fund range.

A summary of each committee meeting is published as soon as possible following the meeting. To view the latest summary or a list of previous summaries visit our meeting summaries page.

Who's on the committee?

The IAC comprises of five pensions and investment experts.

Currently, the committee comprises:

  • James McCourt, Chief Risk Officer, RLG
  • Piers Hillier, Chief Investment Officer, Royal London Asset Management
  • Ewan Smith, Chief Executive Officer – Royal London
  • Candia Kingston, Independent Chairperson
  • JB Beckett – Independent Representative