From the Editor...
Saba Capital Management has been extremely active in the closed-end fund space recently and just last week managed to get two of its candidates elected to the ASA Gold and Precious Metals Ltd. fund. The all-independent board is now comprised of two Saba-backed members and two incumbents (both of whom were reelected at the April 26 shareholder meeting), so it'll be interesting to see what comes out of that boardroom next. Here at FBV, we'll keep following this and the more general activist activity and reporting on our findings.
In other news, one of the many Gabelli Funds board clusters has nominated a well known figure in New York politics and media. The shareholder vote is slated to take place in one week, and if successful, Robert Astorino be the 26th independent director in the group overseeing the firm's 22 open-end, closed-end, and exchange-traded funds.
Don't miss our latest 10 Things... list, which is a guide for boards overseeing ETFs, or our most recent Viewpoints, in which author Joyce Li discusses overseeing artificial intelligence use by third-party vendors. And we recently posted a link to ICI Mutual's latest Claims Trends report, which reports on significant civil lawsuits, regulatory enforcement proceedings, and operational errors involving fund advisers and their affiliates, registered investment companies, and fund directors and officers. These are just a few of the great resources to which subscribers have easy access on our website, www.fundboardviews.com.
Watch your inbox for this weeks stories, including an op-ed on how SEC rulemaking is complicating the 15(c) process and a new 10 Things... list co-authored by Carolyn McPhillips from MFDF and Tom Kim from IDC that will address diversity issues covered at the two groups' recent event in New York. We pride ourselves on our own insight and knowledge of the fund governance space and on our access to industry leaders and their voices. Keep reading!
For now,
Hillary Jackson, founding editor