Before Knowa
Each of Mike's schemes kept its history in its own system, and some of it only in the memories of people who had since moved on.
With Knowa
He asks a scheme's record a question and receives an answer that cites the minute or clause it relies on.
The challenge
Knowa was designed to support professional trustees who need to advise across different schemes - on challenges that apply today, with precedents buried in the past and outcomes that will occur in the future.
Mike Smaje is one of them. He came to trusteeship from actuarial practice, and he told us about the barriers that can stand between a board and a consistent, compliant decision:
- If Mike and one of his boards need to address a discretionary case between meetings, they need to know how the board decided similar cases in the past. That history usually sits in minutes written for another purpose, and finding it depends on someone remembering where to look.
- A decision they take this quarter may need explaining to the Ombudsman or to a future trustee, long after the papers behind it have been archived. They're answerable for consistency with decisions the board took before he joined, many of which he will never have seen.
- Late papers have always been a challenge for boards. Deferring an item adds pressure to a future meeting and delays addressing a matter of importance. However, a decision made without fully absorbing the brief brings its own risks.
How Knowa helps
In the world of pension trusts, Mike is one of the people behind the decision. He has used Knowa for a number of years, across several schemes. When he's balancing responsibilities across his boards, he leans on Knowa to provide the board papers, minutes, decisions and actions from a scheme. He trusts that they're all connected and secure - and each scheme's record is comprehensively available in one place.
He's on Knowa every week, and every day once the quarterly meetings come round. Most of that time goes on a handful of tasks:
Up to speed and helping make decisions
When Mike takes on a board that runs on Knowa, its history is already open. He can read the precedents set before his appointment in his first week, and by the first meeting he's ready to contribute in full.
Each scheme kept separate
Each of his appointments has its own workspace and its own record. He works the same way in each, and nothing crosses between schemes.
Late papers summarised
If a paper arrives late, he asks for a summary and goes to the full text only where it matters. The board can then take the item at the meeting.
Precedent and deed rules found
Before a discretionary case, he asks how the board decided similar ones. The answer cites the minutes it draws on, and he can ask the same of the deed and its amendments.
Member cases decided between meetings
Each case is logged with its papers in a confidential thread. Mike reviews the facts and votes there, so the record of the decision is the discussion and vote as they happened, rather than a minute written up from memory.
Adviser invoices approved
Invoices from each scheme's lawyers, accountants and actuaries go to the board as a vote. He approves them through the same feature, with no email chain to chase.
“Ill-health cases used to come round by email, sometimes to trustees' personal accounts. Now I read the facts in Knowa and vote on the case without it ever leaving the platform.”
Mike Smaje, Professional trustee
Mike is one of over 4,000 trustees who work on Knowa, with more than 6,000 advisers sharing the platform as they work alongside these boards. Book a demo to see how it would work across your own book.
