For a trustee board to be effective in managing their scheme well, it’s important that the board members have a diverse range of skills and knowledge that complement each other.

As a chair, it’s your role to take the lead to ensure that your board has the right range of skills, to identify gaps, and to suggest how those gaps can be filled. Where gaps are found, steps should be taken to fill them – you can support your board trustees by ensuring that sufficient time is given to their training needs.

• When you recruit and select trustees, think about the needs of the board as a whole.
• Review the performance and effectiveness of the board annually and refer to the objectives in your business plan.

The Pensions Regulator has produced a ‘skills matrix’ which will help you to identify the skills, knowledge and experience of the whole board.