From the Editor...

This is it: The final stretch of Summer 2021. Hopefully, you all were able to get out and about a bit more this year and are looking forward (fingers crossed) to meeting up in person this fall at third- and fourth-quarter board meetings. Fall is always such a busy time for everyone, so enjoy the dog days while they last.

It's hard to believe that there are no 36(b) cases pending before the courts, now that the appeals court has affirmed the decision in the Great-West case. The mutual fund industry has battled dozens of lawsuits over more than two decades, and now the question is: What's next? As always, we'll be keeping on eye on the docket and letting readers know what the plaintiffs' bar is up to.

In the boardroom, changes (as always) are taking place. There's a new independent chair of Eaton Vance Funds, who has stepped up to replace William Park, who will remain on the board through the end of this year. And there are plans for more independent directors to be around the table at Parnassus Funds following news that AMG has taken a majority stake in the ESG investor. 

Speaking of ESG, we've relayed some advice from industry experts for boards on how they may think about handling oversight of ESG funds during the annual 15(c) process. Without a standard definition of "ESG," these tips are helpful and can be a basis for discussion, so have a read.

We've been fortunate to run a couple of contributed pieces in the past several weeks, as our goal is provide useful information and a variety of perspectives to readers. Retired counsel Darrell Braman brings his decades of experience in the fund industry—and with fund boards—to the table in an op-ed that examines just what the role of directors should be, while FUSE Research Network's Bob Kennedy explains how completion fund fit into the mutual fund market and what fund boards may want to ask about them.

We will publish as usual this week before embarking on our annual two-week closure starting next Monday. So, you'll have a chance to catch up completely before the news cycle starts up again after Labor Day!

For now,

Hillary Jackson, founding editor