From the Editor...

Well, folks, this is it for the decade.

Fund Board Views is signing off for another year, our fourth since taking the leap in 2015 to launch a fully independent, totally digital news and information service for and about fund boards and fund governance professionals. Each year, we reach more people and add to our group of regular readers, and each year, I'm grateful for the faith those readers place in us. Thank you for a great four years, and here's to what lies ahead in the 2020s!

In the past few weeks, we've given readers a hint of what might be on the agendas in board rooms around the country heading into the new year. Our latest 10 Things... covers everything from regulation to product development to profits and fees to M&A to board makeup. It's a good starting place if you're wondering what independent fund directors might be discussing in 2020 and, as Buzz Lightyear says, beyond. 

Our most recent Viewpoints also looks into the future, with former SEC official Douglas Scheidt laying out what he thinks the regulator should do when it comes to updating decades-old valuation guidance. Investment Management Division Director Dalia Blass has said a valuation update is among her staff's tasks, and Scheidt holds no punches when dispensing his advice. 

We've got news on some more recent comments from Blass and a couple of her colleagues, as well as details on the hows and whys of the merger of the two boards overseeing Guggenheim Funds and Rydex Funds into a unitary board overseeing both fund families. And finally, we've provided a link to a letter penned by Independent Directors Council Chair Dawn Vroegop to Amy Lancellotta, who retires from IDC next week. She (and we) wishes her a fond farewell and highlights some of the many contributions she's made to fund governance over the years.

We hope you enjoyed the Winter Solstice, and we wish you a Happy Hanukkah, Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Boxing Day! And, we wish you good health, happiness, and success in 2020 and throughout the new decade. Thanks for sticking with us! We'll be back to our regular publishing schedule on Monday, Jan. 6.

For the last time in the 20teens (crazy!),

Hillary Jackson, founding editor