To continue along the same vien from the last column, an important feature of all companies is the Board and top management relating to goverance. When it is weak, losses happen. Although most of us do not know what happens at the Board, sometimes reading in between the lines of the papers you can get a sense of it. Mr. Levitt in his book Take On the Street noted a quote from Michael Miles former Chairman and CEO of Philp Morris Co.
The attributes of Board members are they should be engaged, meaning they should be willing to commit their time and energy. They should know how the “game” is played, and by that he means have experience at the Board level. Directors should not be shy, they should ask inconvenient questions and not worry whether the CEO considers them polite or likable. And finally the directors should have a keen bullshit detector so they know when someone is selling them a bill of goods.

The attributes are generic enough for any organization, but what you are looking for is if they do not seem to be there with the Board you have invested in. Otherwise who is looking out for you?

There are always more questions than answers, till next time, to raising questions