Regulatory Resources: Rules, Regs Going Effective in 2022

As the 2022 calendar gets underway, fund complexes will implement requirements from several regulatory actions they have been preparing for over the last couple of years. Below is a list of Forum webinars on derivatives, valuation, and others, highlighting how these regulations will affect the oversight of funds in the coming year. Webinar archives are available only to MFDF fund board members. If you are not a Forum member, you can purchase access to the program replay. For details, please contact us with the name of the program archive you are interested in viewing, along with your fund affiliation information. 

• Webinar Archive: Board’s Responsibility of Derivatives Rule
  Ken Holston and Fatima Sulaiman, partners in the K&L Gates LLP’s Asset Management and Investment Funds Practice, discussed the board’s responsibilities under the new derivatives rule. The webinar originally aired on Thursday, January 14, 2021. Click here to log in and view.

• Webinar Archive: Board Oversight of a Fund’s Derivatives Risk Management and Fund Compliance With Rule 18f-4
  Lance King, counsel at Seward & Kissel LLP, Victor Frye, CCO at ProShares Advisors LLC, discussed the board’s role in overseeing a fund’s derivatives risk management program and compliance with the new Rule 18-f-4.  This webinar originally aired on Monday, May 24, 2021. Click here to log in and view.
  
  
• Webinar Archive: A New Fair Valuation Framework for Fund Directors
  Thoreau Bartmann, Senior Special Counsel, Rulemaking, in SEC’s Division of Investment Management; Paul Kraft, a partner at Deloitte; and Paulita Pike, a partner at Ropes and Gray delivered an overview of the SEC’s recently adopted rule on Good Faith Determinations of Fair Value. This webinar originally aired on Wednesday, February 3, 2021. Click here to log in and view.
  
  
• Webinar Archive - Investment Valuation and Governance: Deloitte's 19th Annual Fair Valuation Survey
  Paul Kraft, Tom Wines, and Katie Yorra discussed the latest findings from Deloitte's 19th edition Annual Fair Valuation Survey, including how firms are preparing for implementation. This webinar originally aired on December 8, 2021. Click here to log in and view.

• Webinar Archive: Putting the Fun in Fund of Funds
  This webinar presented by Elizabeth Reza of Ropes and Gray, Trevor Swanberg of John Hancock, and Kevin Gleason of Voya Funds, covered issues that arise in overseeing funds of funds including the possible need to obtain exemptive relief, the use of proprietary underlying funds or third party funds, considerations that arise in connection with the share class structure and pricing of funds of funds (including as part of the annual contract renewal process) and other related topics.  This webinar originally aired on Wednesday, September 30, 2020. Click here to log in and view.

Industry Trends Refresh: ESG, Crypto, SPACs, Closed-End Fund Activism

The last two years have brought fundamental changes to the way the asset management industry operates, including a greater focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, ESG, and new product opportunities. Below is a list of webinars that examined how fund directors can think about those trends in their oversight role.

• Webinar Archive: ISO Crypto Exposure: What Boards Need to Know
  This webinar with lawyers from Vedder Price provided an overview of how funds can obtain exposure to cryptocurrency and the factors boards should consider in evaluating plans to enter this asset class. This webinar originally aired on November 9, 2021. Click here to log in and view.
  
  
• Webinar Archive: The Nuts & Bolts of SPACs
  Steve Barry, CIO of Fundamental Equity at Goldman Sachs, and Jody Foster, independent director for Hussman Investment Trust, discussed topics relating to SPACs for mutual fund directors as part of the Forum's Investment Series. This webinar originally aired on September 22, 2021. Click here to log in and view.

• Webinar Archive: ESG Taxonomy - Ratings, Benchmarks, and Other Board Challenges in an Uncertain Regulatory Environment
  In this first session of the MFDF/Broadridge series on ESG, panelists discussed the uncertain regulatory environment for ESG and how boards may approach their oversight role despite the lack of industry-wide definitions and standards. This webinar originally aired on Wednesday, October 27, 2021. Click here to log in and view.

• Webinar Archive - ESG Fund Expenses and Performance: Differentiating Types of ESG Strategies and Pricing/Performance Trends
  This second session of MFDF’s ESG webinar series provided clarity around largely positive data on the performance, expenses, and pricing of ESG products. This webinar originally aired on November 3, 2021. Click here to log in and view. Click here to log in and view.

• Web Event Archive: Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Investment Management
  MFDF partnered with EY center for Board Matters to present Diversity, Equity & Inclusion in Investment Management. Participants in this session discussed how fund directors can encourage diversity of thoughts and talents in investment management, attract a wide range of talent to the industry through fund board diversity and ask better questions of advisors and their diversity initiatives. This event originally aired on Thursday, June 10 and Friday, June 11, 2021. Click here to log in and view.

• Webinar Archive: What if Closed-End Fund Defenses Fail? Preparing for an Activist Board Member
  Jennifer Gonzalez of K&L Gates LLP discussed the pros and cons of potential actions boards could consider now to prepare for the possibility that an activist candidate is nominated and elected. The webinar originally aired on Thursday, January 21, 2021. Click here to log in and view.