The board of the Thrivent Mutual Funds has hired Management Practice on retainer to assist in the contract renewal process as well as other board matters. "We were pleased with the assistance they provided during the contract renewal and decided to put them on retainer to be available as needed during the year," said Herbert Eggerding, lead independent trustee.

The board is trying out having the consultant on call for a year and seeing how it works out. Right now, the consultant is helping search for several new directors. He is also giving advice on board compensation. "It is not traditional but I could see that occurring," said Geoff Bobroff, president of Bobroff Consulting. "Boards are facing questions that either their counsel or other advisors aren't able to help them with"

Still, the main thrust of the consultant's responsibilities will be the contract renewal process. For several years, Thrivent used Lipper but found it to be a "data dump." "We feel we get much better service from a consultant with an executive summary rather than a huge data dump," Eggerding said.

The board's contract renewal process starts in July and concludes in November. All of the work is done in the contracts committee, which is comprised of the seven independent directors. The contract is then brought to the full board for formal approval.