From the Editor...

It's summer (unofficially)!! This time of year always makes me happy, but I'm particularly joyful now because things are finally starting to open up and it's beginning to not feel quite as weird to be out and amongst people. We can eat out in restaurants, travel, visit loved ones and friends, see concerts and other performances, and folks are beginning to head back to their offices (at least some days of the week). It also means that mutual fund directors are beginning to plan in-person meetings again.

Invesco Funds Chairman Christopher Wilson sat down with us for an exclusive interview and shared how he and his board will handle meetings going forward, and several other independent board chairs and directors spoke with us to provide a more general picture of what third- and fourth-quarter meetings might look like and how they're approaching the in-person-versus-virtual-meetings conundrum in the future.

Meanwhile, Management Practice Inc. has published its annual mutual fund director compensation data, which showed that the pandemic and switch to virtual meetings had no real effect on how much independent fund directors made in 2020—a testament, it seems, to boards' ability to just get on with things and fulfill their responsibilities despite challenging circumstances. In fact, for a second year running most directors saw little change in compensation levels. We've got all the details for you!

Our latest 10 Things... list explores what fund boards should know about the transition away from LIBOR, and in other news, we look at how the Virtus Funds board is handling the acquisition of The Merger Fund and other Westchester Capital Management assets. 

Look for our latest Fund Board Monthly PDF this week; it'll have all the stories we published in May. And please send us your recommended reading lists to consider for our annual summer reading list, which we'll publish later this month (on the official first day of summer).

Enjoy the warm weather, the newfound freedoms, and the Brood X cicadas, if they're in your part of the country (they're in mine, and it's loud out there!). 

For now, 

Hillary Jackson, founding editor