The ISSA Guidelines on Investment of Social Security Funds allows members to follow a progressive process of governance. This starts with the setting up of the various structures involved in the process and includes defining roles and how these interact with the processes to be set up in order that governance objectives are met. These processes include defining and monitoring an investment strategy, monitoring performance and reporting.

This set of guidelines, therefore, starts with investment governance principles and structures before moving on to investment governance processes. The guidelines recognize that some social security institutions carry out investment management internally while others use external managers.

Investment governance processes are addressed in three discrete sections:

• Common governance processes (relevant for social security institutions which carry out investment management internally and/or externally);
• Governance processes specifically relevant for internal investment units;
• Governance processes specifically relevant for external investment managers.