Gonski argues for transparency over expertise

Independent or expert directors are not crucial to company or trustee boards and conflicts of interest are not critical if they are declared to all other members of a board, according to Investec Bank chairman David Gonski.

Addressing the opening plenary of the Conference of Major Superannuation Funds (CMSF) on the Gold Coast, Gonski advocated diversity on boards, particularly with respect to the inclusion of women.

Speaking at a time when the major industry funds are facing Federal Government moves to change governance arrangements within super funds, Gonski suggested that it would be wrong to assume that appointing "expert" directors would necessarily be a step in the right direction, while precluding those with perceived conflicts of interest might prove counter-productive.

"I am persuaded that independence can be a state of mind," he said. "I have seen many directors who might have been perceived to be conflicted because of share holdings or other involvements but who, in practice, have adopted an independent and highly valuable approach," he said.

Gonski said he believed perceived conflicts of interest were easy to handle when everyone knew about them.

"The greater danger is secrecy," he said. "I don't fear conflicts of interest as much as I fear ignorance of such," he said.

Gonski also cautioned against appointing experts such as IT professionals to boards, unless they could look broadly and beyond their single area of expertise.