In 2010, board agendas are finally returning to a state of normalcy, with most focusing on the long term. Last year, the industry was reeling from a market meltdown which left boards figuring out how to deal with a combination of shrinking assets and investor confidence, as well as facing mounds of paperwork from increased regulatory actions.
“We spend a lot more time talking about what the best guesses are about the future, where it’s going and trends,” said Miles Douglas Harper, an independent director of multiple boards.
Instead of reacting and then adjusting to the new market norms, boards are focusing more on shareholder returns. “We are saying; how do we make sure our shareholders who are here today, shareholders who are going to be here tomorrow, how do they get their value maximized and how do they grow their shares?” said Joseph Ahern, independent chair of the board of the Advance Capital funds. “Right now, we are trying as a board to look ahead and learn from the last 18 months and move forward.”
Some boards have taken a step back to look at the current state of the financial services industry and at what they are doing right, what might be wrong and what they could be doing better. “Every year we have been expanding areas of oversight and review and certainly as a result of 2008 and 2009, we probably have expanded the scope of review of the operations within the fund by directors,” said Fred Blumer, chairman of the Caldwell & Orkin Market Opportunity Fund.
Blumer said this year the board has drilled deeper in reviewing the functions of the mutual fund, investment oversight and the overall performance and operations of the fund complex.
Source: Fund Directions
