By C. Meyrick Payne of Management Practice Inc. (MPI), based on a workshop and related survey at the Mutual Funds Directors Forum Policy Conference held in Washington, DC. The Mutual Fund Directors Forum recently sponsored a session regarding fund board and director self-assessments, which was moderated by MPI. Approximately 100 mutual fund directors, counsel and those who support fund governance … Read More
Mutual Fund Profitability in 2016: Gartenberg Benchmarks
Perhaps the most important function served by mutual fund directors is the annual review of investment management arrangements. One factor in this review is the assessment of the investment manager’s profitability. Each year MPI conducts a survey of profitability of publicly-owned investment management companies which provides independent directors a quantitative benchmark to assist in their discussions regarding the reasonableness of … Read More
The Fund Director Search Process
By: C. Meyrick Payne and Sara D. Yerkey, partners at Management Practice Inc. In this bulletin MPI presents the process they typically follow to complete a search for new trustees/directors of mutual funds. In the past two years Management Practice has successfully filled five fund director positions. We have found that the secret to starting a successful fund trustee search … Read More
Defending Against Arbitrage Attacks on Closed-End Funds
Closed-end funds are often formed because they offer investors an opportunity to invest in a focused portfolio which meets their specific needs, usually with built-in leverage, potentially higher returns, and tax advantages. Often the investment focus of the fund is fashionable at the time it is launched. Theoretically the investor can get their money out by selling shares to another … Read More
The Search for the “T” Shaped Fund Director
Based on MPI’s Annual Trustee Compensation and Governance Practices Survey, we believe that 25% of the sitting mutual fund board directors will retire or step aside due to fund mergers in the next five years. As a result, many Fund Boards will need to recruit new Trustees during this period. These Boards will go through the process of identifying gaps … Read More