LORSCH REPORT:THE LORSCH report, compiled for INM, states that most shareholders should be very pleased with the work of its board and notes most investors "are not concerned about what is transpiring" in the boardroom.
“The acid test of a board’s success is the results that the company is providing to shareholders and by any measure INM’s board and management have achieved extraordinary results for shareholders over the years.”
The report cites interviews with individual board members and an examination of the firm’s compliance with the combined code on corporate governance, and compares its governance to the boards of comparable Irish companies.
“In these interviews I pressed especially hard to understand the relationship between the non-executive directors and their ceo ,” the report notes. “What I learned, as one director stated, is that ‘the board is not in the thrall of Sir Anthony. He has an open mind . . . and takes criticism.’
“Or as another director said, ‘we have a strong ceo but it isn’t his little fiefdom. He values the board and likes debate. That’s the way it has always been.’ ”
It states INM is in compliance with the code on the separation of the roles of chairman and chief executive, the appointment of a senior independent director, the establishment of audit, remuneration and nomination committees and on annual reviews of the chairman, chief executive and board.
“On matters concerning board size and director independence, INM fulfils its corporate governance requirements under the combined code through the provision of additional information to support its determination of independence.”
It notes the most significant contributor to the board’s size is the top management structure of the company, including the chiefs of its four geographic units.
