Purpose: The main purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between some characteristics of the board of directors and the company's financial performance, considering the moderating role of institutional ownership.

Methodology: In this research, the data of 177 registered companies at the Tehran Stock Exchange between 2015 and 2015 were analyzed using the multiple regression method including industry and year-fixed effects.

Findings: The research results show a positive and significant relationship between one of the characteristics of the board of directors and the financial performance measures, however, the moderating role of institutional ownership in this relationship was not confirmed.

Contribution: The results of this research can cover the existing gap in the literature regarding the moderating role of institutional ownership in the relationship between the characteristics of the board of directors and financial performance and open a new avenue for future research. Also, this research contributes to the literature in the field of corporate governance by considering agency and resource dependence theory.