Just What Is the Corporate Director's Job? Large Passive Investors' Perspectives on the Board Member's Job Description

Large passive investors have, as they see it, one of the most vested stakes in the success of their portfolio company directors. Investors who attended our panel discussion—including representatives from the Big Three: The Vanguard Group, BlackRock, and State Street Global Advisors—advocate as much shareholder engagement for corporate directors as possible. They believe engagement has been the missing link in the corporate governance debate, which has traditionally focused on the primacy of shareholders versus directors. Ably supplementing the information management disseminates to the board is also a vital part of a director’s job, panelists told us.