
10
BlackRock Throgmorton Trust plc
l
Annual Report and Financial Statements 30 November 2022
The Board is also cognisant of the
concept of “overboarding” and has
considered the time commitment
required by the Directors’ other roles,
taking into account their nature and
complexity. The Board reviews this
information annually, for each Director,
including my own as Chairman of the
Board, to ensure that all Directors have
sufficient capacity to carry out their
role effectively. Before recommending
a Director for re-election, their
independence, attendance record and
ongoing commitment to the affairs
of the Company is also considered. A
formal evaluation of the performance
of the Board is also carried out each
year, assisted by an external third
party firm.
Further information on the
evaluation of the performance of the
Board can be found on page
65
.
Board composition and
Diversity
The Board regularly considers its
composition and that of its committees
and has an ongoing succession plan
in place designed to ensure that
it retains an appropriate balance
of skills, knowledge, experience,
independence and diversity that meets
or exceeds relevant best practice and
the requirements of the UK Corporate
Governance Code, including guidance
on tenure and the composition of the
Board’s committees.
In accordance with the Board’s
succession plan, and to continue
to ensure we retain the experience,
expertise and diversity that is expected
of a company in the FTSE 250, the
Board, through its Nomination
Committee, agreed a search process
to identify a new director using a
third-
party recruitment firm, Fletcher
Jones. The Nomination Committee
determined the selection criteria,
the method of selection, and the
recruitment and appointment process.
Board diversity, including that of age,
ethnicity and gender, was taken into
account when establishing the search
criteria and candidate profile.
Following the completion of a thorough
search and selection process, which
identified several very high calibre
candidates, I am delighted to welcome
Glen Suarez to the Board. Glen was
appointed on 9 January 2023 and
brings a wealth of relevant industry
knowledge and experience. He is a
highly experienced Non-executive
Director and Chairman and his
appointment further strengthens
and diversifies the existing board.
Glen will also serve on the Company’s
Audit, Nomination, Remuneration
and Management Engagement
Committees, and his appointment is
subject to approval by shareholders at
the forthcoming AGM. Further details
of Glen’s background and experience,
and that of all the Directors, can be
found in their biographies on pages
33 to 36
. The Board’s policy on Board
diversity and associated data can be
found in the Corporate Governance
Statement on page
64
.
Following
nine years of diligent service
on the Board, and having also chaired
the Company’s Audit Committee during
his tenure, Loudon Greenlees has
advised the Board he will step down
as a Director of the Company at the
conclusion of the forthcoming AGM.
I would like to take this opportunity
to thank Loudon for his invaluable
contribution to the ongoing success
of the Company, his wise counsel
during his tenure, and in particular
for his leadership of the Company’s
Audit Committee, an important
and demanding role which he has
discharged to great effect over many
years.
In preparation for Loudon’s departure,
the Board, through its Nomination
Committee, has appointed Angela Lane
as his successor and she will take on
the role from the conclusion of the
AGM. Angela is both an experienced
Non-executive Director and Audit
Committee Chairman. She has recent
and relevant experience and is a
Chartered Accountant. As a result,
Angela stood down as Chairman of the
Company’s Remuneration Committee
and was succeeded in this role by Nigel
Burton with effect from 1 December
2022.
At the time of writing, and to facilitate
an orderly transition, the Board
consists of seven independent Non-
executive Directors, a higher number
than usual. This will reduce to six
following Loudon’s retirement at the
AGM. The Board will continue to keep
its composition under close review.
Our approach to
Environmental, Social
and Governance (ESG)
integration
Consideration of material ESG
issues is built into our Manager’s
investment process and climate
risk is considered to be a key part of
investment risk, an approach your
Board supports. The style of our
investment manager naturally steers
away from companies with weak
balance sheets and poor cash flow
which is a common characteristic
of the few resource stocks in the
benchmark index. It should be noted
that the Company does not have an
explicit mandate for sustainable, ESG
or impact-focused investment, nor has
it adopted exclusionary screens. The
investment manager’s integration of
ESG factors into his analysis is, though,
an important lens through which to
identify long term winners, just as poor
ESG outcomes provide a useful tool in
establishing candidates for the short
book.
Further information on the Manager's
approach to responsible investing can
be found on page 52.
Annual G
eneral Meeting
The Board is pleased to announce
that the Company’s Annual General
Meeting (AGM) will be held in person
on Thursday, 23 March 2023 at
12.00 p.m. at the offices of BlackRock
at 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London,
EC2N 2DL. Details of the business of
the meeting are set out in the Notice of
Annual General Meeting on pages 13
6
to 13
9
of this Annual Report.
Prior to the formal business of the
meeting, our Investment Manager will
make a presentation to shareholders.
This will be followed by a question and
answer session.
Shareholders who are unable to attend
the meeting in person but who wish to
Chairman’s statement
continued