From the Editor...

We've been reporting on the slowdown in litigation around alleged excessive fees for a couple of years now. Plaintiffs firms have stopped filing new cases, and of the more than two dozen recent lawsuits alleging violations of section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, only a small handful remain active. In the latest win for the mutual fund industry, an appeals court at the end of May affirmed lower court decisions in favor of BlackRock. The ruling effectively ends a case that dates back to 2014. We're keeping an eye on the others that remain active, even as the continuing global pandemic has slowed the courts down a bit.

Management Practice Inc. has released its annual profitability study, which details mutual funds companies' operating margins for 2019. What's most interesting about the data MPI released, however, are the figures for the first quarter of 2020, which the Stamford, Conn.-based firm included because of the pandemic. Surprisingly, operating margins didn't change during Q1, MPI Partner Sara Yerkey told us. Find out why, here.

Don't miss our stories about new additions to the BMO Funds boardroom, Susan Wyderko's thoughts as she retired from Mutual Fund Directors Forum last week, and recruiting during the pandemic. We've also published our latest FBV Monthly, featuring everything we posted in May—so you won't miss a thing.

It's almost officially summer, and we'll be putting out our annual recommended reading list in a couple weeks. If you're reading something, or have a book on your own to-read list, let us know. Please email me at hillary.jackson@fundboardviews.com with your suggestions of what should make the list; we'll consider all kinds of books (fiction, non-fiction, markets-related, sci-fi, whatever you're reading). Thanks, in advance.

For now, 

Hillary Jackson, founding editor