Board Excellence is a highly-experienced provider of board and governance services to investment firms,
investment funds and their portfolio boards. We have a particular focus on supporting the internal teams and their portfolio boards for;
- Private Equity firms
- Venture Capital firms
- Development Finance Institutions (DFI)
- Impact Investment firms
- Investment Funds
Services for Investment Firms and Investment Funds
- Training for partners, internal nominee directors/observers and external nominee directors/observers
- Specialist training for groups of portfolio CEOs, Board Chairs and NEDs
- Mentor support to internal and external nominee directors
- Support to portfolio monitoring teams in the portfolio board effectiveness and governance areas
- Support on board/governance component of a due-diligence pre-investment process
- Support on complex board/governance disputes
Services for Portfolio Boards
Board Excellence provide a similar range of services to investment firm portfolio boards as they provide to corporate and SME clients. Given our strong engagement with and understanding of investment firms, we are uniquely positioned to work with CEOs, Founders and Portfolio Board Chairs to help them optimally engage and partner with their investment firm nominee directors and observers to ensure a highly effective board that adds significant value and excels for the company, its shareholders, employees and stakeholders.
- Board Chair and Non-Executive Director Search service (Ireland only)
- Board best practices workshop training for directors and executives
- Mentor service for Board Chairs and Non-Executive Directors
- External board evaluations
- Support on Board composition, diversity and succession planing
- Support on CEO succession planning
- Mediation of boardroom disputes and issues seriously impacting board effectiveness
- Strategy and Board Away-Day facilitation
- General Governance support
Some of Our Clients
What Our Clients Say
“Board Excellence have demonstrated a deep expertise in board dynamics and the key factors that impact a board’s effectiveness and performance. We place a major emphasis on embracing board best practices in our investee companies. Board Excellence have developed a strong, practical framework which provides assistance to boards to improve their overall effectiveness and performance. They have been an excellent partner to work with and we look forward to building our relationship further”
“Efficient and effective boards are an important ingredient in managing and developing high growth businesses. We have worked with Board Excellence to great effect both training our own team in how best to maximise the effectiveness of boards but also with a number of our portfolio companies and chairmen. Board Excellence have great experience and are able to deliver the lessons learned in a coherent and digestible way. We are very happy to be working with them”
“As a Development Finance Institution (DFI), DEG relies on the positive impact Nominee Directors can provide to our partner companies all over the world. Board Excellence has been a great partner in this, providing extensive expertise on board work through their Director training as well as by offering valuable insights on good board practices in general. Always open to adjusting the programme according to Nominee Directors’ needs and interests, they have developed a training which addresses all areas of board work relevant to DEG’s Nominee Directors. We look forward to continuing working with Board Excellence in the coming years.”
Germany
“FMO, the Dutch Development Bank, highly values training of its (potential) nominee directors to support them in the proper performance of their board role thus enabling them to positively contribute to board effectiveness and – dynamics. In Board Excellence we found a diligent, knowledgeable and experienced training institute performing a dedicated nominee director training highly appreciated by the participants.”
Netherlands
“Africa50 engaged Board Excellence – a leading international board consulting practice – to conduct an external independent board and committee evaluation as part of our deep commitment to the highest standards of corporate governance. At Africa50, we believe that regularly conducting and acting on such assessment is meant to improve board and committee’s overall effectiveness and performance. We found the process to evaluate Africa50 Board performance to be comprehensive, tailored to our requirements and added significant value. The quality of the team – Kieran and Chaka – were excellent, highly engaging, with deep expertise in the board governance area. The Corporate Secretary team kept engaged in the planning and during all the process. They managed to keep our directors engaged all along in a helpful and pleasant manner. We are delighted to recommend the engagement of Board Excellence in assessing a board and advising on how best to deliver enhanced board effectiveness.”
Morocco
“The training on board management and best practices with Kieran Moynihan, was outstanding. Kieran’s presentation was clear, insightful, and practical. His deep expertise in board dynamics, combined with real-world examples, made complex concepts feel accessible and actionable. What stood out the most was the concrete guidance he provided to the founders. They left each session with practical tools and strategies they could immediately apply to enhance the effectiveness of their board meetings. Thanks to Kieran’s engaging approach, founders are equipped to elevate their governance practices, making their board interactions more impactful and productive.”
Kenya
Board Excellence is a highly-experienced provider of board and governance services for portfolio boards of investment firms. We have a strong track record of helping portfolio boards (PE, VC-backed Series A, B, C, D+ and DFI/Impact) significantly improve their board effectiveness and the value the board is adding to the company.
- Private Equity portfolio boards
- Venture Capital portfolio boards
- Development Finance Institutions (DFI) portfolio boards
- Impact Investment portfolio boards
Services for Investment Firms and Investment Funds
- Training for partners, internal nominee directors/observers and external nominee directors/observers
- Specialist training for groups of portfolio CEOs, Board Chairs and NEDs
- Mentor support to internal and external nominee directors
- Support to portfolio monitoring teams in the portfolio board effectiveness and governance areas
- Support on board/governance component of a due-diligence pre-investment process
- Support on complex board/governance disputes
We have a deep understanding of CEOs and Founders, helping them to partner effectively with their board and drive a partnership with their investor nominee directors and independent non-executive directors that adds significant value to the company. We leverage our experience of training investment firm investor nominee directors and help them optimise the balance of intelligent robust oversight and providing significant support to the executive team. We have successfully mediated a significant number of PE/VC portfolio board disputes across the world and helped boards and executive teams re-build trust.
Services for PE/VC Portfolio Boards
- Board best practices training for PE/VC portfolio directors and executives
- External board evaluations
- Mentor service for Board Chairs, CEOs and Non-Executive Directors
- Mediation service for boardroom disputes
- Support on Board composition, diversity and succession planing
- Support on Executive Team reports for the Board
- General Governance support
- Board Chair and Non-Executive Director Search service (Ireland only)
Some of Our Clients
What Our Clients Say
“Board Excellence delivered a robust and objective assessment of the Board. Paul George and Martina Maher clearly understood the context in which the Board was operating as a result of the rapidly growing nature of the business, the level of regulatory scrutiny given the Group’s ambitious plans for further growth and the resulting pressures placed on the Board. The report was clear, to the point with some pertinent and practical recommendations which will help our governance arrangements keep place with our changing environment.”
“Kieran Moynihan has provided mentoring services to me over the last 12 months in support of my role as chairman of the board of a private equity backed business. Drawing on a wealth of his own boardroom experience and a state-of-the-art knowledge of best practices, I find his down to earth observations invaluable in helping me to be effective in my chairman role. His advice on tactical aspects of managing and leading a board has invariably been spot on, while his overall focus is always on the prize of helping me develop a high performing board that adds real value to the organisation. I warmly recommend him.”
“Kieran went from complete outsider to trusted consigliere in a matter of weeks. Kieran possesses a towering EQ, uncanny ability to focus on what matters and a steel hand (inside a velvet glove) that focuses on the truth. All content. No fluff. Only take on Kieran if your serious about hearing authentic hard hitting, not sugar-coated feedback and you are ready to embrace and get upon it.”
“Board Excellence comes highly recommended, not only for companies considering going public but for any company aiming to be investor-ready by having a professionally managed Board of Directors. I have no words to thank Kieran Moynihan enough for your support in the very early stages of MYCB1 Group B.V. , advising us on creating the highly efficient Board we have today.”
Netherlands
“Global Shares engaged the services of Board Excellence to provide external evaluation and strategic consultancy to our Board and Executive team. Kieran’s collaborative style and easy manner proved key to positive engagement with all board members, which in turn enabled a thorough review of the board structure, its governance and effectiveness. The recommendations and findings presented to us by Kieran, were clear and structured. We would highly recommend Kieran and Board Excellence to any Board that wishes to improve their board performance, composition, and corporate governance.”
“We were delighted with our experience working with Kieran and Board Excellence to help us recruit top talent to our newly formed Board of Directors. Right from the beginning of the process, Kieran worked with us to firstly understand how a successful Board should be structured. He then helped us identify our needs and clearly define the job specs. Board Excellence’s network is incredible, and they connected us with some fantastic individuals who all would have been suitable for our Board. Over the process this was narrowed down, and Kieran helped us every step of the way. What was most impressive was that they understood our brand and business and matched our passion to find the right Board members to help the business grow. For any early-stage business who is looking to start a Board then I would highly recommend Board Excellence.”
“I chair the boards of two early stage companies in which I have been an angel investor since the pre-seed stage, and which have grown to attract capital from a range of institutional and strategic investors including development agencies. Having decided that both were at a stage which required regular board effectiveness evaluation, we were introduced to Kieran Moynihan. For me, from the experience of Board Excellence in both companies, it is the best of its kind I have worked with. Kieran Moynihan led the process. He brought long experience as a founder and manager as well as a board member. He embodied key areas of real first-hand experience of the demands and pressures on founders, management and board members, willingness to deliver hard truths without trying to spare Board members finer feelings and constructive suggestions about the conduct of board meetings to correct shortcomings. In all that he did the communication was clear and free of jargon. His conclusions included suggesting simple, practical and measurable steps to deal with the deficiencies identified. In doing this, his style and personality put all the main personalities involved at ease and allowed him to deliver what could have been uncomfortable findings with tact but very directly. All-in-all, working with Kieran was an enjoyable and very educational process. It has also been very valuable and we have quickly been able to effect significant improvements in how the two boards operate. I personally have learned a lot, and look forward to staying in touch with Kieran in future.”
Kenya
“Initially, I was sceptical about engaging with Board Excellence, as this type of strategic work is notoriously challenging to make value accretive. However, I was pleasantly surprised by the results! Kieran brings a level of nuance and expertise that is truly exceptional, and his contributions have been significantly beneficial in enhancing the synergy between SunCulture’s executive team and our board. The partnership facilitated by Kieran has not only met but exceeded my expectations, proving to be crucial in aligning our strategies and strengthening our leadership dynamics. I would not hesitate to engage their services again and recommend them highly to anyone looking to enhance their board.”
Kenya
