A Seat at the Table

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 <<<

RBC Funds board, adviser team up to lower fees

By Hillary Jackson

When RBC Global Asset Management (RBC GAM-US) announced earlier this month that it had reduced fees across its lineup of U.S. mutual funds and made additional changes to specific funds in the family, it was the culmination of months of work on the part of the adviser and the funds' ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

Matthews Asia Funds board: Have passport, will travel

By Hillary Jackson

For the independent directors overseeing Matthews Asia Funds, understanding the countries and regions in which shareholder dollars are invested goes hand in hand with understanding the structure and other mechanics of the funds themselves. There is a lot of necessary reading, portfolio managers are given time at each board meeting ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<