Fuse Research Report Highlights Board Leadership Findings

Fuse Research released a report highlighting trends in independent director board leadership among registered funds. The report finds that nearly three-quarters of boards have an independent chair (51%) or a lead independent (23%). Additionally, boards that serve complexes with either a larger number of funds or a greater amount of assets under management (AUM) are more likely to have an independent director in a leadership position. The report notes that “[a]mong boards with 26 funds or more, nearly 87% have either an independent chairperson or an interested chairperson with a designated lead independent.” Nearly 68% of boards with AUM greater than $5B have an independent chairperson. Interestingly, ETF boards rank the lowest among product-types for either independent chair or interested chair with lead independent (52%) versus open-end fund boards of which over three-quarters (77%) have either an independent chair or an interested chair with lead independent. Fuse collected the data used on an ongoing basis from public filings and covers all ’40 Act product boards and independent directors.

Click here to view the topline data from the Fuse research report on board leadership.