Our work to ensure integrity, good foundation governance and transparency.

Enterprise foundations play a major role in Danish society. They own a significant share of the largest Danish companies and grant billions of Danish kroner to, for example, research, culture and social projects. Therefore, foundations have a great deal of influence in these areas, and with great influence comes great responsibility. The Lundbeck Foundation takes this responsibility very seriously. For this reason, integrity, good foundation governance and transparency are keywords we apply to our daily activities – both to our investments and to our grants. We make a point of complying with the Recommendations on Foundation Governance.

Responsibility, composition, etc. of the board of directors

The Lundbeck Foundation is headed by its the board of directors. The board meets at least four times a year. One of these meetings has an extended format, including a seminar for defining or adjusting the Foundation’s strategy. The responsibility, composition, etc. of the board of directors is defined in the Foundation’s statutes. The board of directors regularly evaluates whether it possesses the right skills to perform the necessary tasks – this is part of the annual board review.

The Chair and Vice-Chair nominate new members for the Board. If more specific skills are required, the Chair of the Foundation’s Grants & Prizes Committee or the Chair of the Investment Committee participates in the nomination process. External consultants are usually involved in the selection process.

The Foundation is represented by two members of the boards of directors of H. Lundbeck, ALK and Falck. One of these is the Lundbeck Foundation's CEO, who is also Vice-Chair on each board. The Chair of the Lundbeck Foundation’s board of directors is not a member of the boards of H. Lundbeck, ALK or Falck.

Furthermore, none of the Lundbeck Foundation's board members sits on the executive board of H. Lundbeck, ALK or Falck. Neither current nor former members of the executive boards of H. Lundbeck, Falck or ALK may be elected to the Foundation's board of directors. This also applies to current or former members of the Foundation’s executive board. Board members are elected for one year at a time.

The Foundation has selected a term shorter than that stipulated in the Recommendations on Foundation Governance. However, the term corresponds to standard practice in listed companies. This ensures better potential for regular evaluation of the performance of board members. A member who has been a member of the board of directors for longer than twelve years may not be reappointed. However, the board of directors may deviate from this rule should the competency profile of the board of directors so dictate.

Board members who have reached the age of 75 may not be appointed or reappointed to the board of directors. However, the board of directors may deviate from this rule should the competency profile of the board of directors so dictate. The work of the executive board is evaluated as part of the board of directors’ annual self-evaluation process.

Remuneration of board members (2024)

 

 Members of the board of directors receive remuneration which is continually benchmarked and equivalent to that of members of the boards of directors of similar Danish foundations. The basic annual fee is DKK 225,000. The Chair of the board of directors receives three times the basic fee and the Vice-Chair twice the basic fee.

In addition, the Chair of the Investment Committee receives DKK 405,000 annually and ordinary members receive DKK 270,000 annually. The Chair of the Research Committee receives DKK 405,000 annually and ordinary members receive DKK 100,000 annually.

 
Overview of fees The Lundbeck Foundation Lundbeckfonden Invest
Remuneration for ordinary members: DKK 225,000 p.a. DKK 135,000 p.a.
Remuneration for Vice Chairman: DKK 450,000 p.a. DKK 270,000 p.a.
Remuneration for Chairman: DKK 675,000 p.a. DKK 405,000 p.a.

Membership of the Investment Committee:

N/A DKK 270,000 p.a.

Chairman of the Investment Committee

N/A DKK 405,000 p.a.

Member of Research Committee:

DKK 270,000 p.a. N/A
Chair of the Research Committee: DKK 405,000 p.a. N/A
Member of the Grants and Prizes Committee DKK 100.000 p.a. N/A

(March 12, 2024)
 

Board members who are also members of the boards of H. Lundbeck, ALK or Falck receive directors’ fees from these companies. Total remuneration for 2023 is listed in the table below.

Board of Directors

Total fees in DKK 1000
(2023)

Of which fee subsidiaries in DKK 1000
(2023)
Steffen Kragh 1,328  
Peter Schütze 1,618 650
Lars Holmqvist 1,704 950
Michael Kjær 698  
Susanne Krüger Kjær 799  
Svend Andersen 608  
Thomas Werge 556  
Gundhild Waldemar
(resigned 27/03-23)
380  
     
Employee Representative    
Henrik Sindal Jensen, HLU 360  
Katja Barnkob, ALK 710 350
Mikkel Helmer Nielsen, Falck 360  
Morten Egholm Aagaard, Falck 360  
Total 9,481 1,950

The Foundation’s CEO, Lene Skole, received DKK 18,1 million in 2023, which includes directors’ fees for subsidiaries H. Lundbeck, ALK and Falck.

Good foundation governance and transparency

The Lundbeck Foundation considers transparency and openness to be vital to our work as a foundation. The Lundbeck Foundation's board of directors has an annual responsibility to assess whether the Lundbeck Foundation complies with the recommendations of the Danish Committee on Foundation Governance. The aim of the recommendations is to promote the development of good governance of enterprise foundations.

Click here for previous years’ reviews:

Our annual reports.

The Lundbeck Foundation's CEO, Lene Skole, has been a member of the Committee on Foundation Governance since 2020.

Impartiality

The Lundbeck Foundation applies the rules and principled codes of conduct governing impartiality described below. These are based on the Danish Public Administration Act's chapter 2 on impartiality. The impartiality rules are developed to ensure a balanced presence of professional expertise, transparency and impartiality in the Lundbeck Foundation’s decisions.

The rules apply to members of the Lundbeck Foundation’s board of directors, members of the Foundation's grant committees, external reviewers, executive management and others who have an influence on the Foundation's decisions on award of grants.

Disqualification

A person will be disqualified from the decision-making process in a specific case, if said person has a personal or economic interest in the outcome of the specific case,

  1. said person has a familial relationship to the applicant, i.e. spouse/cohabiting partner (current and former), relation or relation by marriage in direct line of ascent or descent, close collateral relation such as a niece or nephew or another close relation with a personal or economic interest in the outcome of the specific case,
  2. said person is or has previously been a supervisor for the applicant or, in any other way, collaborates with the applicant or has collaborated closely with the applicant within the past five years,
  3. said person has acted as a referee for the applicant on the application in question
  4. said person has released a publication together with the applicant within the past five years
  5. said person aims to enter into a close, academic collaboration with the applicant during the course of the project related to the application,
  6. said person is employed in a public institution (such as a faculty or hospital) in which
  7. their superior is the applicant, or if the said person has supervisory responsibility for the applicant. In specific cases in which a decision is of crucial importance for a particular place of employment, any employee or manager at this institution will likewise be disqualified
  8. the applicant is in a research team of which said person is a member or has been a member within the past five years,
  9. any other circumstances exist that put said person's impartiality in question.

A person who is disqualified, or whose impartiality in a specific case may be in doubt, is required to notify the Lundbeck Foundation of such in advance. Non-compliance will be considered a breach of the rules governing impartiality.

Guidelines in the event of disqualification

A person who is disqualified from the decision-making process in a specific case may neither make a decision, participate in the decision nor participate in any part of the case-handling process.

If a person has a potential conflict of interest or if there is any doubt about the impartiality of said person in a given situation, the chairman of the relevant committee or review board will decide, together with the administration, whether the conflict of interest should result in disqualification.

Consequences of breach of the rules governing impartiality

The following consequences will apply if breach of Lundbeck Foundation's impartiality rules can be proven:

  • The evaluation of the application must be repeated and processed by the relevant committee or review board without the influence of disqualified members in the same way as if the impartiality rules had not been breached.
  • All cases of breach or circumvention of the impartiality rules must be reported to the Foundation's board of directors, which will take charge of the further processing of the case.