Top of the Agenda - Governance

BlackRock board adds two independents

By Hillary Jackson

Two new independent directors joined the board overseeing BlackRock's non-index fixed-income funds and closed-end funds today. The additions bring the board up to 10 independents, though the larger size may be short lived as two—including a co-chairman of the board—will hit the mandatory retirement age this year and are expected ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

Lancellotta, former BlackRock exec join Nuveen Funds board

By Hillary Jackson

Amy Lancellotta, who led the Independent Directors Council for 13 years before retiring at the end of 2019, has joined the Nuveen Funds board along with Joanne Medero, who most recently was a managing director in BlackRock's Government Relations and Public Policy Group. With these two additions, the all-independent board ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

The Merger Fund, others added to Virtus Funds board's oversight remit

By Hillary Jackson

The Virtus Funds board is preparing to expand its oversight responsibilities to include assets that will be added when adviser Virtus Investment Partners acquires Westchester Capital Management, a deal that is expected to close in the second half of the year. Among the funds being acquired with Westchester Capital is ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

Fund boards prepare for return to in-person meetings

By Mike Schnitzel

Life is beginning to return to normal as infection rates drop, vaccination rates increase, and states begin to reopen fully after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down much of normal life as we know it starting in March 2020. For mutual fund directors, getting back toward normal means a return to ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

ICI Mutual: 36(b) cases done, CEF activism on rise

The spate of excessive fees lawsuits the mutual fund industry has been battling for years is all but over, ICI Mutual has highlighted in its latest Claims Trends report. Just one of the more than two dozen cases filed in the past decade remains active, and not a single one ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<

Schwab Funds board recruits ahead of retirement

By Hillary Jackson

The board overseeing mutual and exchange-traded funds managed by Charles Schwab Investment Management is in recruitment mode to fill a seat that will be vacated by the end of this year when a 13-year veteran of the boardroom retires. "The succession planning is well underway," a Charles Schwab & Co. ... >> CONTINUE READING <<<