From the Editor...

Management Practice Inc. has released it's annual Survey of Mutual Fund Director/Trustee Compensation and Governance Practices, which shows that fund independent directors received an average increase in 2024 that was more than double what their counterparts on corporate boards experienced last year. Before MPI released the figures and discussed the survey results on an MFDF webinar, we delivered the new data and commentary from Jay Keeshan exclusively to FBV readers. Check out our article!

We also recently spoke exclusively to a couple of fund board chairs about what's going on inside their boardrooms. Dina Tantra of Heartland Funds discussed a recent team-building experience her board and the adviser undertook (cooking class!), while Erik Olstein of Trust for Professional Managers discussed why diversity in the boardroom and strong relationships among board members and service providers is a recipe for success. "It helps build relationships, and especially when things get tense in the boardroom, you realize you're dealing with a person," Tantra said of the more casual setting that mixed up management and board members. Meanwhile, when asked about the TPM series trust board's composition, Olstein said: "We have the right talent in the right spaces to cover our needs." Both articles provide insight into what's happening in the industry. 

If you haven't already, be sure to read our latest Viewpoints article from Joyce Li. She discusses oversight of sub-advisers' use of artificial intelligence and touches on a number of interesting and helpful points. 

And finally, send us your recommendations for the summer reading list! We'll include fiction, non-fiction, self-help, financial books and more. And we love to highlight books written by fund independent directors and other fund governance pros, so let us know if you've published something. Less than three weeks until summer is officially here!

For now,

Hillary Jackson, co-founder and editor