Independent Fund Directors Launch New Web Site

Published September 29, 2004, 1:00 a.m. EDT

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The Independent Directors Council on Tuesday launched a new Web site designed to help educate more than 3,000 independent directors sitting on mutual fund boards.

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The site, www.idci.org, was conceived in the wake of a pervasive trading scandal that led to a Securities and Exchange Commission rule requiring that 75% of the trustees serving on fund boards be independent. It addresses the need for a reliable source of relevant, timely information that will help fund directors live up to their fiduciary responsibilities in serving fund shareholders.

The Web site features a calendar of events along with an archive of relevant data and reports published by the IDC and the Investment Company Institute. It also addresses numerous topics of interest for fund directors including key legislative and regulatory developments, and current research regarding funds and fund shareholders.

"We hope the IDC Web site will prove to be a useful venue for mutual fund directors interested in staying abreast of effective fund governance practices and developments," said Samuel Eisenstat, an independent director of the AIGSunAmerica Funds and chairman of the IDCs communications committee.

James Bodurtha, an independent director of the Merrill Lynch Funds and chairman of the IDC said the site "vastly increases the resources available to mutual fund directors" and "represents a major step forward in the work of the IDC on behalf of mutual fund directors and shareholders."