From the Editor...
We are back from our summer publishing break, rested and refreshed—and ready to tackle the final months of the year.
As we do every September, we reported last week on the latest independent director compensation figures published by IDC. We know how important accurate information regarding director pay is to fund boards, so we focus our reporting on the tried and trusted data generated by IDC and Management Practice (which publishes its own survey every spring). We also know that context around the figures is equally important, and as our readers know, we have the years of experience and knowledge to provide that context. In this year's IDC study, the data showed a continue rise in director compensation and a host of other interesting trends on which we'll be reporting in the coming weeks.
In the legal realm, the industry is awaiting news that the U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled its consideration of whether private parties should be allowed to bring claims that fund contracts violate the Investment Company Act of 1940. We reported back in June that the Court agreed to review a lower court decision in a lawsuit filed two years ago by Saba Capital Management against FS Credit Opportunities Corp. and more than two dozen other closed-end funds that accused the funds of violating the ICA by adopting control share provisions in their bylaws. Industry observers are hoping the case makes it onto the Court's fall docket, which starts Oct. 6, and in anticipation of the Court's review, MFDF and ICI have filed amicus briefs urging the justices to rule against allowing such claims. We've go our eye on this case and will update with developments.
Before the break, we brought readers the latest news of what's going on in the nation's fund boardrooms, through our regular Who's at the Table? feature; shared a piece on retail access to private markets in our Added Perspective section, and detailed Saba-backed directors' takeover of the ASA Gold and Precious Metals boardroom.
Finally, last week we published our latest FBV Monthly, which includes all of our content from July and August, so don't miss that.
For now,
Hillary Jackson, co-founder and editor