Michael Scofield
Julian Reid
Paul Dykstra
Paulita Pike
Fund Directions has named Michael Scofield, independent chairman of the Evergreen Funds, the 2007 Trustee of the Year, and Julian Reid, independent chairman of the Korea Fund, 2007 Small Board Trustee of the Year. Both were on hand March 6 to receive their award at the 15th Annual Mutual Fund Industry Awards Dinner. Paul Dykstra and Paulita Pike, partners at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd received the award for Independent Counsel of the Year and Jim Bodurtha, independent chair of Blackrock Funds was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Trustee Of The Year, Michael Scofield, independent chair, Evergreen Funds
Scofield led his board through three separate fund mergers last year and aided in approving a plan to lower commissions on its short-intermediate and short-term bond funds for the funds to remain competitive. “He leads in a ‘cooperative, it’s the right thing to do, and if it works for the shareholder everyone wins’ kind of style,” said Russell Salton, independent trustee. Under his leadership, the board has worked with the fund’s management on numerous initiatives that have saved shareholders more than $25 million annually.
Scofield is also dedicated to improving board governance and holds an additional meeting each year focusing solely on education. He is also an advocate of bringing on outside consultants if he feels the board may not have a subject matter expert. “Scofield has been vigilant in ensuring that the board has access to all of the resources available to help each trustee provide optimal service to the funds’ shareholders,” said Colleen McCoy, independent consultant with the Canterbury Group.
Scofield is a proponent of improved disclosure for fund shareholders and contributed to a number of ongoing efforts by the IDC this year to address the issue. “I often called on Michael for input on industry issues and could be confident that his perspective was one that always put the interests of shareholders first,” said Marguerite Bateman, former managing directors of the IDC. “He does not wait for an industry recommendation – he writes a letter directly to shareholders and posts it on the website.” He is also a member of the IDC’s governing counsel and a member of the MFDF’s board of directors and participates actively with both organizations.
Small Board Trustee Of The Year: Julian Reid, independent chair, The Korea Fund
Reid led his board through a three-year process of changing advisors from Deutsche Asset Management to RCM Capital Management, a task that was finally completed last year. Reid helped to orchestrate the change to go as smoothly as possible and made sure the manager’s reports to the board were high quality.
Following the installation of the new manager, Reid made sure shareholders understood the changes. “He has done an outstanding job keeping us in the loop on the complex tax and investment policy issues on the Korea Fund,” said Jim Ward, cio of Everett Harris & Co., an institutional money manager invested in the fund. “No other director of any other fund we hold has ever contacted us.”
“Julian has worked tirelessly in the interests of Korea Fund shareholders,” said Bernard Moody, investment director at Progressive Developing Markets. While the board continues to monitor the new advisor, Reid is also encouraging them to further enhance shareholder value. Most recently, the board narrowed the use of its law services from two firms down to one and also closed its listing on the Osaka securities exchange, which added to cost savings for shareholders.
Independent Counsel of the Year: Paul Dykstra & Paulita Pike, Bell Boyd & Lloyd
Paul Dykstra and Paulita Pike, partners at Bell, Boyd & Lloyd took home the award for the second annual Independent Counsel of the Year. The pair was instrumental in helping the board of the Prudential Insurance and Prudential Retail funds create a compliance committee to review significant compliance matters that occur between meetings. They also led the boards’ efforts to review details they provide to shareholders regarding the approval of advisor contracts and make the disclosures more user-friendly.
“They are invaluable in helping us to safeguard our independent by helping us to monitor conflicts,” said Thomas Mooney, chair of the Insurance Funds. “Because Paul and Paulita have seen firsthand how important it is for independent directors and management to work together for the benefit of fund shareholders, they focus on collaboration, not confrontation.”
Dykstra and Pike also organized and served as co-chairs of the first Independent Directors Institute sponsored by the MFDF last year and served in that capacity again at the institute held this past January. “They do a great job of supporting various director events,” said Jay Keeshan, director at Management Practice, a consulting firm. The two lawyers are also members of the MFDF’s advisory board.
Dykstra and Pike also serve a number of other boards, including Calamos Funds, First American Funds and Oppenheimer Funds and are both professors at Northwestern Law School where they teach a course on mutual fund regulation. “Though there are many terrific attorneys working with fund directors today, Paul and Paulita have a unique perspective on representing independent directors,” said Robin Smith, chair of the Prudential Retail Funds.