P. Gerald Malone

About P. Gerald Malone

Independent Chair of the Board and Class II Trustee of abrdn Global Dynamic Dividend Fund (AGD); trustee since 2018 with the current term ending in 2028 if re‑elected. Born in 1950, Malone is a lawyer of over 40 years, former UK Member of Parliament (1983–1997) and Minister of State for Health (1994–1997). Currently an adviser to Onkai (US healthcare software) and chair of multiple open- and closed‑end funds in the abrdn complex; prior US healthcare non‑executive roles include Medality LLC (until 2023) and Bionik Laboratories (2018–July 2022) .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Independent Chair of the Board; trustee since 2018; Class II term to 2028 if re‑elected .
• Committees: Audit Committee member (chair: John Sievwright; Sievwright designated audit committee financial expert) ; Chair of Nominating & Corporate Governance Committee .
• Meetings FY2024: Board held five regular meetings; Audit Committee held two; Nominating Committee held two .
• Attendance: Each incumbent Director attended at least 75% of aggregate Board and committee meetings in FY2024 .
• Independence: Board has super‑majority of Independent Trustees; Independent Trustees meet in executive session at least quarterly and have separate independent counsel . As of April 1, 2025 none of the Independent Trustees or their immediate family members owned shares of the Investment Adviser or Sub‑Adviser or their control affiliates .
• Audit Committee charters emphasize auditor selection, independence, and pre‑approval of permissible non‑audit services; committees concluded auditor independence was maintained .

Fixed Compensation

• None of the Funds have bonus, profit sharing, pension or retirement plans; officers are compensated by abrdn Inc. or affiliates, not the Funds .

Performance Compensation

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Expertise & Qualifications

• Legal expertise (lawyer of 40+ years); public service leadership; board experience across public/private companies; executive and consulting experience .
• Committee leadership: Chair of Nominating & Corporate Governance; member of Audit; contributes to annual board/committee self‑assessments and charter reviews .

Equity Ownership

• As of April 1, 2025, Trustees and officers in aggregate owned less than 1% of each Fund’s outstanding equity securities .
• Shares outstanding (record date): AGD 24,865,080.973 .

Governance Assessment

• Strengths: Independent board chair; active committee roles; formal charters and auditor independence oversight; regular executive sessions with independent counsel; satisfactory attendance; no ownership ties between Independent Trustees and the adviser/sub‑adviser .
• Alignment: Malone holds AGD shares in the $1–$10k range with $50k–$100k across abrdn funds, providing some economic alignment though not material relative to AGD’s ~24.9M shares outstanding .
• Conflicts/Red Flags: No current external public company directorships disclosed; no related‑party transactions or adviser ownership by Independent Trustees; no performance‑based or equity compensation for Trustees—reduces pay‑for‑performance concerns but also limits direct linkage to fund outcomes .
• Time/Interlocks: Chairs and oversees multiple abrdn funds, implying significant time commitments; however, independence safeguards (executive sessions, separate counsel) and committee structure mitigate risk of adviser influence .

Historical compensation context: Total compensation from the fund complex rose from $503,348 in FY2020 to $607,758 in FY2024, consistent with expanded fund complex duties; per‑fund AGD compensation rose from $11,621 (FY2020) to $21,017 (FY2024) .