D.E Master Blenders 1753 is one of the leading coffee roasters and tea blenders in the world, and a major supplier of coffee systems and accessories for the workplace.
Scheme Members: 10,000
Scheme Assets: €1.45 Billion
Douwe Egberts Pensioenfonds were looking to integrate their risk framework and daily procedures into one system, giving them the tools to monitor and document risk controls. The board were also looking to implement iPads to provide board members with mobile access to their governance information.
The framework was to be based on FIRM (the approach of the Dutch Central Bank) and would provide easy to manage daily procedures for the pension bureau.
The pension fund approached eShare’s Dutch partner Montae, a consultancy based in the Netherlands specialising in pension law, actuarial, asset management, communication, consultancy, board support, and governance. Montae demonstrated the Controls module as well as the full BoardPacks suite.
Douwe Egberts Pensioenfonds investigated four possible software solutions and decided that BoardPacks was the best solution for them. The pension bureau now use the Controls module to manage risks and daily procedures, and the Meetings and Knowledge modules to manage meetings effectively, and to securely store governance documents online. The board also uses the Decisions module.
Elvin van den Hoek, Director of Douwe Egberts Pensioenfonds explained, “Not only did the Controls module meet our goal to integrate our risk framework, it has given us the tools to provide efficient management of our meeting information, which was not part of our original specification; BoardPacks was anticipated as a ‘quick win’.”
Elvin van den Hoek comments, “The benefits of BoardPacks is evident, not only for the pension bureau, but also for the board and committee members. The digital preparation of our pension bureau meetings has increased our efficiency and reduced administration time. We can easily share information that is already uploaded with external parties such as auditors, actuaries, and advisors.”
With BoardPacks the board members have a comprehensive set of information, and they don’t have to archive information themselves. New board members have access to documents which have been prepared in the past for decisions or current policy.
The board members use the BoardPacks app daily on their iPads. Elvin van den Hoek explains, “It is very easy to use and all our documents are quickly accessible; we can use the app to access our information from home or in transit.”
BoardPacks has been beneficial for Douwe Egberts Pensioenfonds in many ways. Not only has it helped reduced the time and costs, but it has also enabled board members, committee members, and external advisors to easily keep records of their policy, minutes, correspondence reports, risk monitoring etc. And, of course, it has reduced their environmental footprint as well.
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