Barclays Wealth and Investment Management sponsored a recent Institute of Directors (IOD) Isle of Man Branch Seminar entitled ‘The Director’s Role in Managing Risk,’ with guest speaker Dr. Roger Barker – Head of Corporate Governance for the IOD - who delivered an informative seminar to a packed audience of IoD members and guests.
Since leaving investment banking, Dr Barker has specialised in corporate governance and board effectiveness. He is the holder of a doctorate on corporate governance from Oxford University, where he was also stipendiary lecturer at Merton College, Oxford. He also co-authored the IOD’s main guide to the role of the board, The Effective Board: Building Individual and Board Success and also the business risk guide.
The presentation focused on a number of topics covered in a new publication, ‘Business Risk - A practical guide for Board Members.’ Dr Barker highlighted a number of key themes to be considered including challenges facing a Board when seeking to deal with material risk issues, the role that a Board should play in defining and encouraging appropriate patterns of behaviour in the organization and defining risk appetite. Dr Barker also highlighted issues relating to the composition of Boards taking account of diversity issues.
Dr. Barker sits on advisory boards at a number of organisations, including the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). He is a visiting lecturer at the Said Business School (University of Oxford), ESSEC (Paris), UCL (London) and the Ministry of Defence (UK), and a former adviser to the EU Economic and Social Committee in Brussels.
Simon Scott, Managing Director, Barclays Isle of Man, said: ‘Barclays works closely with the IOD Isle of Man branch on a number of levels and we were delighted to support this informative presentation. Every member of our Board of Directors is or has been involved in undertaking IOD qualifications or working with the IOD to review Board effectiveness. As an organisation we understand the importance of continuous professional development and the value of seminars such as this one. The topics covered by Dr Barker resonated with all attendees and we will certainly be reviewing the pointers flagged in his seminar to identify any further improvements we can make to ensure our Board is as effective as possible.’
Sally Bolton, IOD Isle of Man Branch Chair said: ‘We warmly welcome the ongoing support and involvement of Barclays with the Institute. They are sponsoring a series of seminars related to risk related topics. We were very fortunate to have Dr Barker in the Island for this seminar which was well received and appreciated by everyone.’
