2018 Guide to Effective Proxies

2.10 Board skills matrix | 157 6 TH EDITION | GUIDE TO EFFECTIVE PROXIES ACCENTURE PLC AFFILIATED MANAGERS GROUP, INC. TheNomineesbringawidearrayofqualifications,skillsandattributestoourBoardofDirectorsthatsupportits oversight role on behalf of our stockholders. The most relevant of these qualifications and skills are summarized in thetablebelow: Director Experience and Skills Overview Financial, accountingor financial reporting We use a broad set of financial metrics to measure our operating and strategic performance. Accurate financial reporting and rigorous auditing are critical to our success. We seek to have directors who qualify as audit committee financial experts and expect all of our directors to have an understanding of finance and financialreportingprocesses. 9of9 Directors Investment management Directors with investment management experience provide the Board with an enhanced understanding and assessment of our business strategy and bring valuableperspectiveonissuesthatareuniquelyrelevanttoourindustry. 7of9 Directors Globalbusiness Ourcontinuedsuccessdependsinpartonthesustainedgrowthofourinternational operations, and we seek directors with global business experience, including managingandgrowingorganizationsworldwide. 7of9 Directors Leadership Weseekdirectorswhohaveheldsignificantleadershippositions,aswebelievethis experience provides directors with a practical understanding of organizations, processes,strategy,riskmanagementandotherfactorsthatpromotegrowth. 9of9 Directors Otherpublic companyboard experience Directorswithexperienceservingonotherpubliccompanyboardsprovidevaluable operations and management perspectives, which support our Board’s ability to oversee and advise management. Further, these directors bring to our Board valuable insights on corporate governance trends and practices and other issues affectingpubliccompaniesgenerally. 3of9 Directors Publicpolicyand government affairs WeandourAffiliatesoperateinahighlyregulatedindustryandaredirectlyaffected by governmental actions and socioeconomic trends and, therefore, we seek directorswithexperiencewithgovernmental,regulatoryandrelatedorganizations. 4of9 Directors Risk managementand compliance Risk management is critical to the success of our business, and we seek directors with regulatory and compliance expertise, as well as experience managing and overseeingriskinpublicandprivatecompaniesandinothercontexts. 7of9 Directors Environmental, socialand governance Directorswhohaveexperienceinmanagingenvironmental,sustainabilityandsocial issues are able to assist the Board in overseeing and advising management to ensure that strategic business imperatives and long-term value creation for stockholdersareachievedwithinaresponsible,sustainablebusinessplan. 5of9 Directors Operational We believe that directors with experience in operations are able to assess and advisemanagementontheformulationandexecutionofourbusinessstrategy. 7of9 Directors 12 Total of 02 pages in section ACCENTURE 2017PROXYSTATEMENT Proposal1:Re-AppointmentofDirectors 15 QUALIFICATIONSANDEXPERIENCEOFDIRECTORNOMINEES InconsideringeachdirectornomineefortheAnnualMeeting,theBoardandtheNominating&GovernanceCommittee evaluatedsuchperson’sbackground,qualifications,attributesandskillstoserveasadirector.TheBoardandthe Nominating&GovernanceCommitteeconsideredthenominationcriteriadiscussedabove,aswellastheyearsof experiencemanydirectorshavehadworkingtogetherontheBoardandthedeepknowledgeoftheCompanytheyhave developedasaresultofsuchservice.TheBoardandtheNominating&GovernanceCommitteealsoevaluatedeachofthe director’scontributionstotheBoardandroleintheoperationoftheBoardasawhole. Webelieveourdirectornomineesbringawell-roundedvarietyofexperiences,qualifications,attributesandskills,and representamixofdeepknowledgeoftheCompanyandfreshperspectives.Thetablebelowsummarizessomeofthe experience,qualifications,attributesandskillsofourdirectornominees.Thishigh-levelsummaryisnotintendedtobean exhaustivelistofeachofourdirectornominee’sskillsorcontributionstotheBoard,welooktoeachdirectortobe knowledgeableintheseareas;however,wehaveincludedadirectorineachoftheareaswherethedirectorhasspecific expertiseorprominencethatheorshebringstotheBoard.Furtherinformationoneachdirectornominee,includingsome oftheirspecificexperience,qualifications,attributesorskillsissetforthinthebiographiesonpages17to22ofthisproxy statement. OUTOF11DIRECTORS SKILL TOTALOF11 GLOBALEXPERTISE Broad leadershipexperiencewith multinationalcompaniesor in international markets 11 SENIORLEADERSHIPEXPERIENCE Servedinaseniorleadershiproleatalarge organization 11 INNOVATIONANDTECHNOLOGY Managingtechnologicalchangeanddriving technologicalinnovation 7 FINANCIALEXPERTISE Experienceasaprincipal financialofficer, principalaccountingofficer,controller, publicaccountantorauditororexperience actively supervising suchperson(s) 10 INVESTMENTEXPERTISE Experienceoverseeinginvestmentsand investmentdecisions 7 PUBLICCOMPANYBOARDEXPERIENCE Servingontheboardsofother publiccompanies 10 PROCESSFORSELECTINGNEWDIRECTORS Toidentify,recruitandevaluatequalifiedcandidatesfortheBoard,theBoardhasusedtheservicesofprofessionalsearch firms.Insomecases,nomineeshavebeenindividualsknowntoBoardmembersorothersthroughbusinessorother relationships.InthecaseofTraceyT.Travis,athird-partyprofessionalsearchfirmidentifiedherasapotentialdirector nominee.Priortohernomination,Ms.Travisalsometseparatelywiththechairmanandchiefexecutiveofficer,thechairof theNominating&GovernanceCommitteeandtheleaddirector,whoinitiallyconsideredhercandidacy.Inaddition,the professionalsearchfirmretainedbytheNominating&GovernanceCommitteeverifiedinformationabouttheprospective candidate.AbackgroundcheckwasalsocompletedbeforeafinalrecommendationwasmadetotheBoard.Ms.Travisalso metseparatelywithothermembersoftheBoard,andafterreviewanddiscussionwitheachofthesedirectors,the Nominating&GovernanceCommitteerecommended,andtheBoardapproved,Ms.Travis’sappointmentasadirector. SKILLTOTALOF11GLOBALEXPERTISEExperienceininternationalmarketsthroughaseniorleadershiproleinanorganizationwithitsprimaryoperationsoutsideoftheUS7SENIORLEADERSHIPEXPERIENCEServedinaseniorleadershiproleatalargeorganization11INNOVATIONANDTECHNOLOGYManagingtechnologicalchangeanddrivingtechnologicalinnovation7FINANCIALEXPERTISEEducationandexperienceasaprincipalfinancialofficer.principalaccountingofficer.controller.publicaccountantorauditororexperienceinoneormorepositionsthatinvolvetheperformanceofsimilarfunctions.oractivelysupervisingsuchperson(s)10INVESTMENTEXPERTISEExperienceoverseeinginvestmentsandinvestmentdecisions7OPERATIONALSeniorleadershiproleinanorganizationwhoseprimaryoperationsinvolvetheproductionanddistributionofproducts7PUBLICCOMPANYBOARDEXPERIENCEServingontheboardsofotherpubliccompanies10 2.10 Board skills matrix Companies traditionally disclose director nominee skills and qualifications in the director election section of the proxy, as well as in the related discussion of key board committees. Because of keen interest in director quality, diversity, experience and skills, each year more companies are highlighting strengths present on the board by including a summary matrix of the key skills that are appropriate for their particular company given its industry, stage of growth, competitive position and anticipated future direction, and that are present on the board. Many companies already maintain such matrices for internal board evaluation and succession planning purposes to identify any gaps in skill sets that they seek to fill before third parties identify and attempt to fill such gaps themselves. Companies that are confident that their board includes the right mix and depth of skills increasingly are including a version of this internal planning tool in the proxy to build investor confidence in the board’s quality, strength, independence and ability to oversee and support management and its strategic plan. Two primary types of matrices are a) the traditional two-dimensional matrix that attributes specific skills to specific directors, and b) a summary of the skills present on the board without attributing these skills to specific directors (i.e. “matrix-lite”). The latter approach has the benefit of avoiding the suggestion that certain directors may lack certain skills