Just a note, page-8

I am invested in some 15 companies at the moment, most of them in the growth phase (because I am a masochist, I am coming to realise     ), and the question occurs to me more and more these days; what does the board do?

According to the Australian Institute of Company Directors:

The board is responsible for the overall governance, management and strategic direction of the organisation  and for delivering accountable corporate performance  in accordance with the organisation’s goals and objectives.

Right. This makes sense, when the board has an executive function, but from my experience, turning up at meetings on the odd occasion does not give anybody the ability to make any constructive contribution to the direction of the company when the executive have to deal with the day to day reality of running the show. The only possible contribution I can see from a non-executive board is to ensure that corporate governance is maintained, otherwise they are too far from reality to be able to make any worthwhile contribution.

So, in the case of Alexium, I strike out points 2 and 3 from the description, and can see them adding value only for "overall governance" and "strategic direction". The first, of course, is the reason independent non-executive directors are appointed, so that applies to our board. The second, I see as being something like a tasting plate, where the executive presents the proposed direction, and the board approves it - the board being too far from the reality that the company exists in to be able to contribute meaningfully or propose new directions.

So, the reality in my mind is that the company is driven and steered by the CEO and the other  senior management in his team, and those decisions are rubber stamped by a group of people who show up once a month or two to ( in the main) debate the best way to achieve an increase in board remuneration without the pesky shareholders getting all annoyed about it.

I have a great deal of time for the contribution made by non-executive directors, but only when they are there as an independent voice amongst a board who is deeply immersed in the operation of the company. Alexium's current board provides no such structure (four non-executive directors), and I ponder the value for money that we gain from such an entity. We pay US$300,000 for the board, plus whatever bonuses they decide to pay themselves (a truckload of options, reading the last annual).

As unpopular as Gavin has made himself, he is the only director I have noted buying shares on market, or having any ability to make a meaningful contribution to the missing facets of board contributions noted above; the rest appear to be on the gravy train to me.

I see no reason to support the board in its current state, and did not do so when I voted a week ago.