Case Study: Advisory Board Recruitment
Our client was a Middle East-based Sovereign Wealth Fund which wished to establish an Advisory Board. Given the global nature of the multi-billion dollar investments being made by the Fund, the brief was to identify three senior individuals who could provide broad insights into various sectors as well as territories, in particular the USA, Europe and North East Asia.
The Advisory Board would additionally provide top level networks and relationships; substantive contributions to due diligence processes; and assistance in identifying transactions. A key requirement was for the Board members to adopt a proactive stance and to help develop authoritative ideas, rather than it simply comprising ‘the great and the good’ with little tangible value added. In order to be effective, however, each individual would most likely be a recently-retired executive who had operated at the most senior levels of corporate life internationally.
The search process was demanding in that it required identifying internationally regarded business leaders from diverse backgrounds, and who would be individually valuable but complimentary to each other. The result was a combination of respected former Fortune 500 company leaders: the first was the CEO of a premier global pharmaceutical company with significant North American expertise; the second was the former Chief Executive of one of the most successful European-headquartered automotive manufacturers; and the third was the former Chairman and Chief Executive of one of the world’s most successful consumer electronics companies headquartered in Asia.
As a result of these appointments, not only did the Advisory Board bring a real level of capability and authority, it arguably set a standard for other Sovereign Wealth Funds around the globe, and has since been imitated by recently established Funds in the Middle East and Asia.
