The board of the Hartford Funds has voted to reduce fees on some of its equity mutual funds and this month directors are discussing more fee reductions for about a half dozen bond funds.
The board of the Caldwell & Orkin Market Opportunity Fund is looking at the "bench strength" of its advisor as well as the core attributes and investment strategies of the fund. The board is doing so to make sure the proper skill sets are being developed, said Fred Blumer, chairman.
Over the past year, the board of the John Hancock Funds has been reorganizing its committee structure in order to handle an increasing workload.
Spurred by the replacement or threatened replacement of directors on certain corporate boards, such as General Motors and Bank of America, by government agencies, the board of the Homestead Funds has updated its D&O insurance policy.
There's apparently nothing like a market meltdown to scare the daylights out of directors and send them scrambling for reaffirmation regarding valuation.
Last month, the board of the Hartford Funds had its annual sit-down with its internal subadvisor, Hartford Investment Management Company.
The Thrivent Funds board is planning to discuss the addition of an investment committee at its meeting this month.
The board of the Advance Capital funds has designated directors to report on specific areas of interest, such as board governance and regulations and industry trends, to the other board members.
Given the likely addition of new board members with the acquisition of the Van Kampen and Morgan Stanley funds, the board of the Invesco Aim funds is taking a fresh look at how its committees are structured.
Boards are now considering funds with hedge fund-like strategies that go beyond the typical long and short positions.
As funds create new offerings to capitalize on future growth in the marketplace, boards are becoming more involved in this process.
Board members of Putnam Funds participated in an extensive and formal pricing strategy review recently resulting in a reduction of management fees for many of Putnam’s mutual funds.