The pandemic has had an unprecedented and far reaching impact on all aspects of business. While growth has always been the primary business purpose, many companies are now simply trying to survive. It is in times of crisis that some companies show their true worth and others reveal the cracks in the foundation. As the world seeks to rebound from one of the most significant crises of our lifetime, what are the lasting lessons this period will leave Boards with?
While it is the responsibility of the management to execute strategy, oversight and long-term sustainability are firmly in the hands of the Board. Without strong corporate governance, starting in the boardroom, companies will struggle to endure. Boards will need to consider their composition and diversity, with an appropriate balance of skill and strategic mindsets that will be able to see them through times of crisis. Indeed, it has certainly brought a sharp focus on the role of the Non-Executive Director (NED) and the capabilities and skills required to address critical issues and the review on whether there is a need to shift from constructive challenge to more of a supportive role.
Inevitably, it is the responsibility of the individual members to commit to their boards with the attention that their organisation deserves and an understanding of and preparation against modern day existential threats. Unsurprisingly, Boards may be ‘waiting for the fog to clear’ though we are not expecting that to come anytime soon. There is work to be done and we cannot afford to lose momentum.
What is your next move – as a board member and collectively as a board?
Target Audience
- All Directors – Aspiring, new, experienced and nominee directors from the public and private sectors
- Governance professionals
- C-suite executives & senior management working with Boards
Learning Outcomes
- Review and explore the new board rules for a post-COVID world
- Understand the role of boards during a crisis
- Enhance your ability in preparing for black swan events
- Gain an overview on new workforce considerations
- Look into the evolving roles of NEDs post-crisis
Programme
| Friday, 14 August 2020 | Special Edition, Online PowerTalk | |
|---|---|
| 10.00am | Special Online PowerTalk by Diana David, Financial Times Board Director Programme Faculty Member & Author of Future Proof: Reinventing Work in the Age of Acceleration |
| 10.45am | Panel Dialogue |
| 11.15am | Question & Answer |
| 11.30am | End of Online PowerTalk |
DIANA DAVID
Financial Times Board Director Programme Faculty Member & Author of Future Proof: Reinventing Work in the Age of Acceleration
Diana is the author of Future Proof: Reinventing Work in the Age of Acceleration and is an adjunct professor of leadership at Columbia Business School’s EMBA Global Asia. A former Financial Times executive, and founder of the Financial Times Non-Executive Directors Diploma in Asia, Diana now works with CEOs and board directors to enhance their leadership agility, influence, collaboration and resilience. Her clients have included the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, the World Bank, Expedia, Asia Development Bank, Citi and Credit Suisse. She began her career and leadership education as an assistant to Dr. Henry Kissinger.
Diana has an MBA from Columbia Business School, is a past recipient of Asia Society’s Asia 21 Young Leaders award and a former Luce Foundation Scholar. She serves as Vice Chair of the board of the American Chamber of Commerce HK, and on the advisory boards of Shared Value Project Hong Kong, Teach4HK and several private companies. She is also an active participant in Women Corporate Directors and The Women’s Foundation, empowering women at all levels to lead and contribute.
Dr. TAN CHONG KOAY
Founder & Executive Director, Pheim Asset Management Sdn. Bhd.
Dr. Tan is founder of Pheim Asset Management Sdn Bhd
He has been in the fund management industry for over 43 years. He is a Chartered Fellow of Chartered Management Institute (UK) and Fellow of the Institute of Financial Accountants (UK).
From 1976 to 1981, Dr. Tan was with South East Asia Development Corporation Berhad (SEACORP) (now known as Amanah Capital Partners Bhd), an investment holding company that owned the first unit trust company in Malaysia and Singapore. He was responsible for advising individuals and institutional clients.
After his tenure at SEACORP, Dr. Tan joined Arab-Malaysian Merchant Bank (now known as AmInvestment Bank Berhad) in 1981 for 7 ¼ years as the first Head of the Investment Services division. During his time there, he built up the division from a two to a 65-man strong team with the capabilities to provide a full range of services. In 1987, as the first Executive Director of Arab – Malaysian Unit Trusts Berhad (now known as AmInvestment Services Berhad), he designed, developed and launched Arab-Malaysia Gilts – the first unit trust in Malaysia to invest solely in Malaysian government and bank-backed securities. In the same year, Dr. Tan participated actively in organising and promoting the concept of raising funds from American investors to invest in Malaysian companies through Malaysia Fund Inc., the first Malaysia closed-ended country fund managed by Morgan Stanley and listed in NYSE in May 1987. During that year, Dr. Tan was rated by William Mercer Zainal Fraser as the top manager for retirement & pension funds in Malaysia.
After his tenure at SEACORP, Dr. Tan joined Arab-Malaysian Merchant Bank (now known as AmInvestment Bank Berhad) in 1981 for 7 ¼ years as the first Head of the Investment Services division. During his time there, he built up the division from a two to a 65- man strong team with the capabilities to provide a full range of services. In 1987, as the first Executive Director of Arab-Malaysian Unit Trusts Berhad (now known as AmInvestment Services Berhad), he designed, developed and launched Arab-Malaysia Gilts – the first unit trust in Malaysia to invest solely in Malaysian government and bank-backed securities. In the same year, Dr. Tan participated actively in organising and promoting the concept of raising funds from American investors to invest in Malaysian companies through Malaysia Fund Inc., the first Malaysia closed-ended country fund managed by Morgan Stanley and listed in NYSE in May 1987. During that year, Dr. Tan was rated by William Mercer Zainal Fraser as the top manager for retirement & pension funds in Malaysia.
Dr. Tan joined DG Bank-GZB (Asia) Ltd, a merchant bank in Singapore, in 1988 for 2 years and was the Head of Investment Management Division, servicing private and institutional clients.
In 1990, Dr. Tan moved to John Govett (Asia) Pte Ltd (later known as AIB Govett) as the first Director of Portfolio Investments, for 3½ years. In 1992, he managed The Malaysian Emerging Companies Fund (an original size of US$75m) and supervised the Singapore SESDAQ fund until November 1993.
Dr. Tan is the founder of Pheim Asset Management Sdn Bhd (“Pheim Malaysia”) and Pheim Asset Management (Asia) Pte Ltd (“Pheim Singapore”) which started operations in 1994 and 1995 respectively. Dr Tan is the Chief Strategist of Pheim Malaysia since 1994 and the Chief Strategist of Pheim Singapore since 1995 except for the period from 2011 to 2015. He is the Executive Chairman of Pheim Malaysia and the Chief Executive Officer of Pheim Singapore. Pheim Asset Management specialises in investing in the ASEAN and Asia ex-Japan region.
Dr. Tan was a Chief Examiner in the Investment paper for Institute of Bankers in Malaysia (from January 1997 to December 2007). He was a committee representative on the Executive Committee of the Investment Management Association of Singapore (IMAS) from 2004 to 2009.
Dr. Tan is a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of Lee Kuan Yew Fund since 2003 and a member of the Investment Advisory Committee of the Lee Kuan Yew Fund for Bilingualisn Ltd for 3 year period, both ending March 1, 2015.
Reputed for his acute sense of market timing and stock selection, Dr. Tan was labelled as the “King of the Second Board” in Malaysia for his well-timed investments in small-cap companies in 1995/1996. He was named “Southeast Asia’s small-cap King” in a Bloomberg article in August 2006. In 2008 & 2010, he was awarded “Best of the Best Award, CEO of the year for Malaysia” by Asia Asset Management, a Hong Kong based publisher of the Journal of Investments and Pensions.
Dr Tan is recognized within the fund management industry for his wealth of experience and his long and excellent performance track record. Among his best records, Pheim SICAV-SIF – ASEAN Emerging Companies Fund which he launched in 1995 took the top position for all the 1- to 20-year periods among all Equity ASEAN of Lipper Global Classification under International Offshore Universe in terms of total returns in US Dollars on the Fund’s 20 th anniversary, February 3, 2015. The fund returned 497.37% (in USD terms) which far outperformed the 2 nd position fund which returned 94.52% n(in USD terms) and FTSE AW ASEAN CR (in USD terms) which returned 44.56%. Additionally, Dana Makmur Pheim which he launched in 2002 won The Edge-Thomson Reuters Lipper Award in 2017 for the Best Fund among Malaysia Islamic Funds for the 3rd consecutive year under Mixed Asset MYR Balanced – Malaysia Category for 3-year and 5-year periods ending December 2016, and for the 2nd consecutive year for 10-year period ending December 2016. Also noteworthy is his largest Malaysian mandate belonging to the largest pension fund in Malaysia outperformed the benchmark by a large margin over a 20-year period ending March 2017.
In 2010, Dr. Tan was awarded “China Top 10 Financial Intelligent Persons Special Award 2010” by People’s Republic of China. Also in 2010, Dr. Tan was awarded the Outstanding Entrepreneurship Award by Enterprise Asia. In 2012, he was awarded “Most Respected Chinese Entrepreneurship Award in Asia Pacific” by China Economic Trading Promotion Agency, People’s Republic of China. In 2014, Dr. Tan was named one of the 80 Global Chinese Eminent Business Leaders by Beijing-based The China Daily. In 2016, Dr Tan was awarded the “Asia Pacific Entrepreneurship Awards 2016” under the Financial Services industry category by Enterprise Asia. He was named “The Warren Buffett of Asia” by World Wealth Creation Conference in The Straits Times, Singapore (April 20, 2017) for being one of the best performing fund managers and for truly enhancing value-investing.
Dr Tan is the author of his bestselling book “Rising Above Financial Storms” published in late 2015.
