From the Editor...

The groups of individuals sitting in mutual fund boardrooms around the country are more diverse than ever, according to new board composition data. As the industry has focused on the benefits of diversity and inclusion and made representation a priority, more women and individuals representing ethnic and racial minority groups have joined boards; in 2023, half of all directors serving for less than two years were female and nearly one-third were minorities.

Speaking of board composition, we reported last week on changes coming to the Dodge & Cox Funds boardroom in 2025. Four new directors are up for election next month, while two long-serving directors are stepping off the board. Once all is said and done and the new directors are in place, Dodge & Cox Funds will have twice as many female directors as male. This is unusual, even among boards that have embraced diversity in their boardrooms.

USCF ETF Trust board recently added its first female director, bumping up the overall size of the board from six directors to seven. Shareholders also elected a new interested director, John Love, who has taken over as chair. He told FBV that adding gender diversity to the boardroom was "an important factor" in the search the directors conducted.

Another board practice we've looked into recently is the reliance in the industry on the Securities and Exchange Commission's temporary exemptive relief from in-person voting requirements. The exemption is still in place, but it could be removed at any time, and it's interesting to see how boards continue to value the ability to get work done when not everyone on the board is able to be in the same room. IDC has called for the voting requirements to be modernized, and fund governance professionals we asked said they were in favor of making the flexibility permanent. What we don't know is what the SEC will do next (if anything).

We also reported recently on compensation figures published in IDC's latest Directors Practices Study. There's a lot there, so make sure you take a look at our article. And finally, don't forget to download the latest FBV Monthly, which includes all of our content from July and August. 

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For now,

Hillary Jackson, founding editor