InGov® · Intelligence & Benchmarking

Governance intelligence for patient-capital institutions

InGov® measures how your institution actually governs — its structure, policies, practices, and outcomes — against an absolute fiduciary standard, and against credible peers. Boards see exactly where they stand, where the bar is, and where the improvements that move the needle lie.

We turn governance data into intelligence a board can act on: what has changed, why it matters, and what deserves attention before the next decision.

Governance and market intelligence data
Why intelligence matters

Governance risk often accumulates before it becomes visible

Market movements are easy to observe. Governance drift is not.

Policy discipline can weaken under pressure. Delegated authority can lose its edges. Operating practice can move quietly away from its intended design. These changes tend to develop well before they surface in performance reporting — and by then the board is reacting rather than governing.

Patient-capital institutions need more than a periodic review. They need continuous governance intelligence that helps a board recognize structural change, emerging risk, and decision implications early — while there is still time to act.

The purpose of intelligence is not to produce more information. It is to make the most consequential information easier to recognize, interpret and act on.

What we measure

We measure the governance system behind institutional performance

InGov® benchmarks institutional investors across four interconnected pillars. Together they show how governance is designed, how it operates, and how it influences long-term member, funding, and investment outcomes.

Pillar 01

Structure

How authority and oversight are organized

Board composition, delegation clarity, committee alignment, and the layers through which oversight is exercised.

Pillar 02

Policy

How institutional expectations are defined

Governance and investment policy discipline, liquidity governance, delegations, and fiduciary standards — decomposed into scored policy domains.

Pillar 03

Practice

How governance operates in reality

Meeting cadence, decision registers, board packets, meeting conduct, risk escalation pathways, and independent reassurance.

Pillar 04

Outcomes

How governance connects to results

Funded ratio, a risk-adjusted active-risk-return measure, cost discipline, and the relationship between governance quality and long-term outcomes.

The InGov® Standard

Standards first. Peer comparison second.

Most benchmarking starts and ends with peers. That can create false reassurance — a group of underperformers can all rank comfortably "average."

InGov® scores every system against an absolute fiduciary standard before introducing peer comparison. The InGov® Standard of Comparison is a proprietary benchmark grounded in authoritative sources — DOL guidance, OECD, GASB, the CFA Institute, NCPERS, GFOA — and in 60+ FAS fiduciary reviews.

Because the standard comes first, peer rank tells you where you stand without disguising whether the peer group itself is meeting the bar.

Scored vs standard

A system's position on the standard does not depend on how its peers performed.

Then benchmarked

Percentile-ranked against a curated, anonymized universe of comparable systems — each assessed against the same standard.

Fiduciary Scorecard Components

Absolute score (0–100), results defined as Substantial → Partial → Minimal, peer median, and percentile rank — in a single view.

1,800+
fiduciary criteria scored across four pillars
60+
governance reviews informing the Standard of Comparison
34
system anonymized peer universe for like-for-like benchmarking
Live
continuously refreshed — not a point-in-time snapshot
Our approach

We benchmark governance systems, not returns alone

Traditional benchmarking concentrates on peer behavior, not a standard of best practices. InGov® examines the governance structures, policies, practices, and decision systems, and how they impact outcomes — because that is where a board can actually intervene.

01
Diagnose

Understand the governance system

Evaluate governance architecture, policies, oversight structures, and institutional decision practices compared to best practices.

02
Compare

Add relevant peer context

Compare comparable public investment institutions against the same standard.

03
Assess

Examine how the operating model works

Review operating-model alignment, delegation clarity, committee responsibilities, and oversight effectiveness.

04
Map

Identify performance risk signals

Connect governance, risk, and performance findings to surface structural blind spots, emerging patterns, and areas of governance drift.

05
Frame

Prepare it for the decision

Organize the relevant evidence, peer context, policy implications, and decision considerations into clear just-in-time intelligence and insights.

How intelligence reaches the board

One assessment, surfaced where the board actually works

InGov® is dynamic. Each policy update, board action, or peer change is dynamically reflected, and the intelligence flows through a coordinated set of insights briefings — focusing on what requires board attention.

Trustee Portal

A live view of where the system stands, pillar by pillar.

Annual Fiduciary Scorecard

The full governance profile against the standard and the peer universe.

Quarterly Spotlight

A focused read on one dimension that warrants attention this quarter.

Board Nudges

Timely prompts that connect a finding to an upcoming decision.

What it can support

Governance infrastructure that turns intelligence into practice

Intelligence is most valuable when it is built into how a board operates. InGov® can support:

Key Decision Calendars

Greater visibility around recurring and upcoming institutional decisions.

Oversight Registries

Clarity on what the board oversees and how delegated authority is monitored.

Performance-at-Risk Dashboards

Performance indicators connected to their relevant risks and governance responsibilities.

Delegation Matrices

Documented decision authority, accountability, and escalation.

Fiduciary Education

Reinforce the knowledge required for effective oversight with Board Smart®.

Structured Verification Cycles

Recurring mechanisms to confirm that policies and practices continue to operate as intended.

This is how intelligence moves from a point-in-time observation to a governance capability that strengthens over time.

Who we work with

Built for the people accountable for long-term institutional outcomes

Boards

Seeking independent governance benchmarking and stronger decision framing.

CIOs

Evaluating the resilience and alignment of the institutional operating model.

Audit Committees

Strengthening independent reassurance and oversight discipline.

Executive Directors

Navigating leadership transitions and maintaining institutional continuity.

Risk Leaders

Aligning risk oversight with board accountability and delegated authority.

Serving U.S. retirement and investment systems — standalone retirement systems, integrated investment and retirement systems, state investment boards, and sovereign wealth funds.

Speak with our team

Governance conversations built around institutional needs

An initial conversation focused on your organization's governance priorities, oversight challenges, and institutional objectives.

Rick Funston
+1 (313) 919-3014 · rfunston@funstonadv.com
Evan Norton
+1 (647) 282-7454 · enorton@funstonadv.com
Sara Lussow
Managing Director, Board Smart® · slussow@boardsmart.com