Canadian pension MD tea

This Canadian pension (one of the c’s) firm is where I’ve observed what seems like repeated circumvention of internal governance and questionable leadership practices. A senior female MD in the team appears to have a long-standing pattern of choosing external advisors without formal RFPs or competitive processes, often favoring the same firms or individuals regardless of performance or cost. There’s an informal understanding among many internally that certain decisions are influenced by personal relationships or expectations, but no one has hard evidence (like receipts or direct communications) — just patterns, behaviours, and consistent signals.

What makes this more difficult is that senior leadership seems to fully support this individual, even when the decisions in question have led to suboptimal or value-destroying outcomes. Formal feedback or concerns raised internally have gone nowhere, and the people manager is unwilling or unable to intervene.

In some cases, subordinates have been asked to deliver messages to external parties during meetings in ways that suggest decision-making is being influenced by things other than objective merit or commercial logic. These behaviours are known within the team, but because there’s no written proof, it’s hard to act on without serious personal risk.

Has anyone been in a similar situation where internal concerns are widely shared but can’t be escalated due to lack of documentation and political protection? What if this person is indirectly influencing your reputation and assessment by abusing her power?