Board

Andrew J. Donohue

Chair

Andrew J. Donohue, widely known as Buddy Donohue, is an independent director of the BNY Mellon Family of Funds. Buddy has over 40 years of experience in both senior government and private sector roles, having most recently served as Of Counsel in the Investment Funds practice at Shearman & Sterling LLP. He has also served as SEC Chief of Staff to Chair Mary Jo White (2015-2017). He is best known for his service as Director of the SEC’s Division of Investment Management (2006-2010). He has also served as Chairman of the ABA Investment Companies and Investment Advisers Subcommittee, and as an Editor of the ABA Guide for Fund Directors. He is currently an Adjunct Professor teaching investment management law at Brooklyn Law School.

Carolyn McPhillips

President

Carolyn McPhillips joined the Forum's staff in July 2005. She was the Forum's Senior Counsel until June 2020, when Carolyn became the President of MFDF. Immediately prior to joining the Forum, she lived in Naples, Italy. She was an associate in the Financial Services Group of Dechert LLP from 2000 to 2003. 

Steve Byers

Treasurer

Angela Brock-Kyle

Angela Brock-Kyle is an independent trustee of the Guggenheim Funds Trusts serving on the audit, contracts, nominating and valuation committees. In 2012 she founded B.O.A.R.D.S. which consults on board governance matters. She currently serves on the private boards of Hunt Companies, Inc., a real estate and infrastructure firm, and Bowhead Insurance, GP, LLC.  She previously served on public and not-for-profit boards. As an executive Ms. Brock-Kyle served in various investment roles within TIAA’s asset management business before joining the firm’s senior leadership team in positions including chief of staff for asset management and lead risk executive for the client relations business.

Jane Carlin

Jane Carlin is an independent trustee of iShares Trust.  She is the Chair of the Risk and Compliance Committee. She is the former Managing Director, Deputy General Counsel and Global Head of Operational Risk and Information Security for Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse. She has served on a number of corporate and not for profit boards and is currently a member of the Hanover Insurance Group board.

Kathleen Dennis

Sanjeev Handa

Sanjeev Handa is an independent trustee and chair of the Audit Committee for the Carlyle Tactical Private Credit Fund. He also serves as an independent director for Oak Hill CLO Enhanced Equity II, and on the advisory board for White Oak Partners.

Sidney E. Harris

Sidney E. Harris is an independent trustee of the Virtus Mutual Funds Family. Additionally, he serves on the board of several closed-end funds: Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Total Income Fund, Virtus Stone Harbor Emerging Markets Income Fund, Virtus Total Return Fund and Virtus Global Multi-Sector Income Fund. He served as a member of the board of the Ridgeworth Funds (2004) and was Independent Chairman of the Board (2007-2017). At the Fund Directions 22nd Annual Mutual Funds Awards Program (2015), he was named “Trustee of the Year.”  In 2019, he was named a member of the Fund Directions Advisory Board.  He  recently completed his term on the board of TSYS, an electronics payments processor.  He served as dean (1991-1996) of the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University and dean (1997-2004) of the J. Mack Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University. He has extensive corporate board and international business experience and is a Fellow of the International Academy of Management. He currently serves on the board of KIPP Metro Atlanta and served on the board of the International University of Grand Bassam (IUGB) Foundation.

Peter Gerald Malone

Peter Gerald Malone, MA LLB, serves as an independent director of Aberdeen Asia-Pacific Income Fund (FAX), a US closed end mutual fund, becoming Chairman in 2005. By profession, he is a Scottish lawyer and was a UK politician from 1983 to 1997. He was a member of the European Affairs Select Committee from 1983 to 1986, then served as a government Whip from 1986 to 1987 in Margaret Thatcher's government when Member of Parliament (MP) for Aberdeen South (1983-87). Mr Malone was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Conservative Party from 1992 to 1994, then Minister of State for Health in John Major's government from 1994 to 1997 whilst MP for Winchester (1992-97). In the financial services sector Mr. Malone has served on the boards of a number of UK funds. He now chairs two other US funds, closed and open end, serves on the board of a third and one Canadian closed end fund. Additionally, he is Chairman of fluidOil Limited, an oil services technology company, Crescent Pharma Limited, a supplier of generic prescription medicines and a Director of Rejuvenan, a US personalized healthcare company. Mr. Malone is Principal of brexRisk, a consultancy advising mutual fund directors on the potential risk the evolving Brexit process poses to their portfolios.

Ron Parker

Ron Parker serves as the lead independent trustee for PIMCO Funds and previously served as chairman of its audit committee. He is also a director and Vice Chair of the Board of Roseburg Forest Products Co., a large privately owned forest products company based in Oregon. Mr. Parker is a retired Certified Public Accountant and spent over 30 years in the forest products industry before retiring as the CEO of Hampton Affiliates. He previously served for 18 years as Board Chair of the Ford Family Foundation and currently chairs their investment committee. He also chaired the investment committee of Oregon Health Sciences University Foundation.

Mindy Posoff

Mindy M. Posoff serves as an independent trustee of the Harris Associates Investment Trust for the Oakmark Family of Funds, a value driven complex of mutual funds. Ms. Posoff is also a managing director and member of Golden Seeds, an investment group whose network is dedicated to investing in early-stage companies with diverse management teams. In addition to those roles, Ms. Posoff is a member of Apollo Global Management’s Impact Advisory Committee, an Advisory Member of the Women of the World Investment Committee, Trustee of Community College of Philadelphia, a Member of the Board of Directors of Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Vice Chair Emeritus and a founding member of the board of Directors of 100 Women in Finance, the largest global association for finance and alternative professionals. Ms. Posoff received her BA in Philosophy and Greek Civilization from Beloit College and an MBA in Finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Dina A. Tantra

Dina Tantra serves as Board Chair for Heartland Funds, focused on value investing.  She also serves as an Independent Board Trustee and Chair of Nominating & Governance Committee for both Thornburg Income Builder Opportunities Fund (a closed-end fund managed by Thornburg Investment Management) and  Boston Trust Walden mutual funds focused on ESG.  Previously she served as CEO and Board Member of Advisers Investment Trust, a series trust fund company. As Co-CEO, Dina built Global Rhino, LLC a strategic advisory firm helping asset managers to bridge the gap between managing money and managing the business of asset management.  During her career, she led business, legal and compliance teams at  several asset managers and fund administrators. Ms. Tantra received a B.A. from Pomona College and her law degree from The Ohio State University.

Lloyd Wennlund

Lloyd A. Wennlund is a Governance and Financial Services professional who retired as Executive Vice President, from The Northern Trust Company in Chicago. He was also President of Northern Funds and Northern Institutional Funds for 23 years. Lloyd now applies his expertise as an Independent Trustee for the Calamos Funds Board and is Chair of the Valuation Committee. Lloyd is also an Independent Director and Board Chair of the Datum One Series Trust, sponsored by Northern Trust. He also serves as a Testifying Expert/Consultant for the Bates Group, LLC. Lloyd was a Governor of the Investment Company Institute Board of Governors (13 years) and a member of its Executive Committee (7 years). He was also a member of the Securities Industry Financial Markets Association (SIFMA) Advisory Council, Private Client Services Committee and Private Client Steering Group, and was a member of the Chicago Advisory Board of the Salvation Army from 2011-2019. Lloyd received a B.S. from Valparaiso University and held the FINRA Series 7, 24, and 53 registrations for over 30 years.

Jameson A. Baxter

Director Emeritus

Jameson Baxter has had a long and distinguished career in investment banking, finance, and the mutual fund industry. From 1965 to 1990, she held senior positions at First Boston Corporation. In 1986, she formed Baxter Associates, a private investment firm. In 2011, Jamie was named independent chair of the Putnam Funds’ Board of Trustees. She has served as a Putnam trustee since 1994 and as vice chairman since 2005. Jamie retired from the Putnam Funds Board in 2018. Jamie joined the Mutual Fund Directors Forum board in 2005 and served as the chair from 2010 to June 2018. She has served on numerous corporate and nonprofit boards, among them ASHTA Chemicals, Inc., Banta Corporation, Ryerson, Inc., Intermatic Corporation, Good Shepherd Hospital, Emma Willard School, and the Adirondack Chapter of the Nature Conservancy.

Carl Frischling

Director Emeritus

One of the most highly regarded investment management lawyers, Carl Frischling represents and advises leaders in the financial services industry on laws and regulations pertaining to financial services, investment companies and mutual funds. He advises independent trustees and directors, investment advisers and investment companies. Carl is the recipient of Fund Directions’ “Independent Counsel of the Year Award” and “Lifetime Achievement Award,” and he was named one of the “Visionaries of the Modern Mutual Fund Industry” by Strategic Insight. He has served on boards of directors of numerous financial and investment companies, such as Invesco Funds and Reich & Tang Funds. Carl currently sits on the advisory board of BoardIQ and on the editorial board of Money Management Executive.

Allan S. Mostoff

Director Emeritus

Allan S. Mostoff was the founding President of the Mutual Fund Directors Forum. He founded the financial services practice at the Dechert law firm in 1976 and was counsel to that firm. He joined Dechert after serving with the Securities and Exchange Commission, most recently as Director of the Division of Investment Management Regulation and, prior to that, as Associate Director and Assistant Director of the Division of Corporate Regulation. He is a member of The American Law Institute and the Advisory Board of the Investment Lawyer, and has served as a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Advisory Council, the Advisory Board of the Securities Regulation and Law Report and as an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University School of Law. Mr. Mostoff received the 2007 Fund Directions "Lifetime Achievement Award" for service to mutual fund directors and the mutual fund industry and in 2011 he was recognized by Strategic Insight as a "Mutual Fund Visionary".

Fergus Reid

Director Emeritus

Fergus Reid is an independent trustee of the Morgan Stanley Fund Group, where he has served in that capacity for more than ten years. Mr. Reid has served as a director of Park Avenue Funds, and the Dreyfus National Bank & Trust Company. Currently he is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lumelite Corporation.

Susan Ferris Wyderko

Director Emeritus

Susan Ferris Wyderko was the President and CEO of the Mutual Fund Directors Forum until her retirement in June 2020. Prior to joining the Forum as Executive Director in 2006, she held various senior positions at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission including the Director of the Office of Investor Education and Assistance, as well as the Acting Director of the Division of Investment Management.  During her tenure with the Commission, Ms. Wyderko also served as the Director of the Office of Legislative Affairs, the Acting Director of the Office of Public Affairs, and Counsel to Chairman Arthur Levitt.