From the Editor...

Technology moves fast. In the mutual fund space, we're seeing that happen with the integration of artificial intelligence, the use of blockchain, and the growing interest in digital assets and tokenization. For fund directors, it's increasingly important to stay abreast of new developments, both in the industry generally and within the adviser, or advisers, with which they work. Our popular 10 Things... feature often focuses on trends like this (as well as other topical issues) and aims to provide readers with an easy-to-use list of conversation starters, and our most recent entry is on this very subject. We hope you find it useful.

In fund boardroom news, there are some new folks (or soon-to-be new, following shareholder votes) on boards overseeing MFS Funds, BlackRock's equity and other funds, Federated Hermes Funds, and Dodge & Cox Funds. Our goal in reporting on personnel changes in fund boardrooms is to help readers fine tune their own processes for succession planning, recruiting, hiring, and onboarding.

We've also reported recently on a settlement between the SEC and a Macquarie Investment Management trust, which centered on valuations of odd lots and the adviser's cross trading activities. The board was not found to be at fault, but with most things, there are takeaways that directors may find useful. Speaking of fair valuation, Deloitte has published the 22nd edition of its Fair Valuation Pricing Survey, in which it looks at how boards are adapting to the new regulatory environment and more valuation-related issues. We chatted exclusively with Paul Kraft, who runs Deloitte's U.S. Mutual Fund and Investment Advisers Practice leader, about some of the more interesting aspects of the latest survey.

Finally, don't forget to download the most recent FBV Monthly, just published this morning and containing all of our stories from September. It's a great resource!

For now,

Hillary Jackson, founding editor