Leading an effective board | Andreas E.F. Utermann, Executive Chair Vontobel Holding AG

The Better Boards Podcast Series

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What does good look like? What does it mean to lead an effective board? These are probably two of the questions I most often hear. In our board evaluations, we see vast differences in how Chairs and boards perform.

In this podcast, I, Dr Sabine Dembkowski, Founder and Managing Partner of Better Boards, discusses leading an effective board with Andreas E.F. Utermann. Andreas was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vontobel Holding AG in 2022. Previously, he led Allianz Global Investors. Beginning in 2012, he initially served as a co-head and Global Chief Investment Officer. In 2016, he became the CEO, a position he held for multiple years before transitioning into an advisory role, philanthropic, and external board work.

"The transition is greatly helped if you feel you've done what you need to do and what you thought you wanted to do as an executive"
While some executives struggle to move over to board work, Andreas feels the transition is much easier if you feel you've both done what you needed and wanted to do as an executive.

"Getting transparent, honest feedback individually is super, super helpful for personal development. It's also really helpful for group dynamics"
On many boards, regular performance evaluations are still uncommon or held for later in a board member's tenure. Yet Andreas feels getting those conversations going right away is critically important for good governance, board futureproofing, and overall board effectiveness. So, as soon as he joined the Vontobel board, he helped initiate Board Evaluations in partnership with Better Boards.

"If you want to be successful, you need to be a contrarian"
Andreas is aware this approach to board evaluations is a little contrarian. This is intentional. Andreas credits his training as an investment professional and his upbringing by his parents for giving him the instinct to avoid groupthink and work opposite to the crowd. To him, if you want to beat the market and be truly successful, your best bet is to do something different.

"Good chairs need to have a high EQ"
Being effective as a board chair these days requires a high EQ. Andreas notes that modern boards tend to be quite diverse, with strong personalities to manage. Along with this, Andreas feels good chairs must help create safe spaces for high-quality conversations.

"The sequencing of board meetings is a significant part of a successful board meeting"
Before each board meeting, Andreas asks his assistant to block time so that he can reflect on the key topics that need to be addressed. Then, he works to organize the board meeting so that the most intellectually complex and emotionally intense conversations happen early in the day or first thing in the meeting.

"Keep admin stuff to a minimum"
Another unique practice Andreas uses to keep his board meetings impactful is minimizing the administrative aspects. He feels board meetings should be focused on strategic discussion. So, Andreas uses a pre-meeting call to cover administrative details before physical meetings.

The three top takeaways from our conversation for effective boards are:
1. Be courageous. If you fail at first, try again, and keep looking at life as a learning experience.
2. Be honest. If you're no longer passionate about what you do and are not learning anything, it's time for a change.
3. Take time to reflect each day on what you're learning and experiencing, jotting down your reflections and insights so that you can incorporate them into