From the Editor...

There are two big fund industry mergers in the works, and—as with most things—there's no one-size-fits-all approach to fund governance in these situations. In the case of Invesco and OppenheimerFunds, as we reported last month, the four existing boards at the two complexes will be merged into two boards. In the case of Victory Capital and USAA, however, the plan—at least initially—is to maintain each fund complex's board to operate separately from one another. There are some interesting changes planned for the USAA Funds board, though, and the situation is one to watch as the merger moves closer to completion.

Speaking of mergers, our latest Viewpoints, authored by Mutual Fund Directors Forum's Joanne Skerrett, covers independent directors' role and responsibilities with regard to fund mergers. It's an instructive piece, and one worth making time for. 

We've also got news on consolidation of fund boards and a resulting reduction in director headcount at BlackRock and the addition of two new independent directors at Diamond Hill Funds—and we published the January edition of FBV Monthly. We hope you're finding this monthly compilation of our stories useful, and we'd love to hear from you on it. 

For now,

Hillary Jackson, founding editor