A Seat at the Table

Putnam's Baxter reflects on 50 years in financial services

By Hillary Jackson

When Jamie Baxter retires from the Putnam Funds board at the end of this month, it will mark the culmination of more than 50 years of work in and dedication to the financial services industry. She started on Wall Street in the mid-1960s when women generally were relegated to certain ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

Diamond Hill Funds board takes unique approach to governance

By Hillary Jackson

The board overseeing Diamond Hill Funds has implemented a series of governance policies that set it apart from many other boards in the mutual fund space and are designed, in part, to align directors more closely with shareholder interests. For example, Diamond Hill Funds directors are all independent, overwhelmingly female, ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

Led by Hartstein, PGIM Funds board tackles recruitment, ETFs, more

By Hillary Jackson

Keith Hartstein has been busy since retiring in 2012 from John Hancock Funds, where he'd served as CEO for seven years and at which he'd worked for 22 years. One year after retiring, Hartstein joined the Prudential Investments retail funds board as an independent director; at the beginning of 2017, ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

Independent chairs, but no retirement age for ALPS trusts

By Hillary Jackson

When the board of ALPS Variable Investment Trust (VIT) named its first-ever independent chairman in 2017, it was a move the directors had discussed during their annual self-assessment and peer review process for years. The subject of board leadership is just one of many industry practices that are revisited time ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

Mairs & Power Funds board taps Twin Cities talent when recruiting

By Hillary Jackson

When the directors overseeing Mairs & Power Funds look to fill an empty seat around the table, they start locally. The St. Paul, Minn.-based adviser, with just under $10 billion in three mutual funds, invests for the long term and maintains an investment focus on Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

Highland Funds chair on getting strategic to protect shareholders

By Hillary Jackson

What would your board do if a single open-end fixed-income mutual fund it oversees had the potential to see a roughly 30% increase in assets overnight? And if that increase were widely known and anticipated in the market, how would your board keep opportunists at bay in the lead-up to ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<