John Shewan, former chair of PricewaterhouseCoopers, will head an establishment board that will oversee the Fonterra Shareholders' Fund.
Mr Shewan, Pip Dunphy and Kim Ellis will be independent directors while Fonterra has appointed Sir Ralph Norris and Jim van der Poel.
Fonterra chairman Sir Henry van der Heyden says the governance of the fund is likely to be closely scrutinised by farmer shareholders and potential investors.
Sir Henry says in the future three directors will be elected by unit holders, and two will be appointed by Fonterra.
The Fonterra Shareholders' Fund is being established as part of the co-operative's efforts to bolster its financial structure.
The Trading Among Farmers plan will allow the co-operative's 10,500 farmer-owners to trade shares among themselves and also allow outsiders to invest in the dividend earnings from shares that farmers can deposit in a fund.
Trading Among Farmers is expected to start next month and a prospectus is to be released within weeks
