Bradford S. Stone
Chief Financial Officer, Vice President and Treasurer at Flaherty & Crumrine Dynamic Preferred & Income Fund
Executive
About Bradford S. Stone
Bradford S. Stone is Chief Financial Officer, Vice President, and Treasurer of Flaherty & Crumrine Dynamic Preferred and Income Fund (DFP), roles he has held since the fund’s inception; he has served in similar officer roles for affiliated funds since 2003. He is also a Portfolio Manager, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and a Director of the investment adviser, Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated; age 65 and based in Summit, NJ . Under the adviser’s stewardship, aggregate AUM was approximately $4.07 billion as of January 31, 2025, with ownership residing among senior principals including Stone . Fund performance context: DFP’s 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year total return on NAV ranked at or above its peer-group median, while the 3-year period trailed the median, per the Board’s annual advisory agreement review .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flaherty & Crumrine Dynamic Preferred and Income Fund (DFP) | Chief Financial Officer, Vice President, Treasurer | Since inception (officer) | Senior finance leadership, treasury, and reporting for the fund |
| Flaherty & Crumrine Preferred & Income Fund (PFD), Preferred & Income Opportunity (PFO), Preferred & Income Securities (FFC), Total Return (FLC) | Chief Financial Officer, Vice President, Treasurer | Since 2003 (PFD/PFO/FFC); since inception (FLC) | Long-tenured finance and control oversight across the complex |
| Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated (Adviser) | Executive Vice President; previously Vice President through Sept 2014 | EVP since Sept 2014; VP prior | Senior management role evolution at the adviser |
| Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated (Adviser) | Portfolio Manager; Chief Financial Officer | Current | Investment and finance leadership at the adviser |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated | Director; Executive Vice President; Chief Financial Officer | Current | Adviser governance and ownership; alignment with fund shareholders via adviser economics |
Fixed Compensation
- The funds disclose no executive officer (including Stone) received compensation from any fund in excess of $60,000 for the most recent fiscal years; officer compensation is paid by the adviser and not itemized in fund proxies .
- Board director fees are disclosed, but Stone is not a fund director; he serves as an officer (CFO/VP/Treasurer) .
Performance Compensation
- Equity awards (RSUs/PSUs), options, performance metric weighting/targets, vesting schedules, retention or sign-on bonuses, clawbacks, and tax gross-ups for Stone are not disclosed at the fund level (officers are employees of the adviser; adviser is privately held) .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Beneficial ownership of DFP shares | Not disclosed for individual officers; directors and officers as a group own less than 1% of shares outstanding for each fund |
| Shares outstanding (DFP) | 20,538,137 as of Jan 16, 2025 (record date) |
| Adviser ownership | Adviser is owned by senior principals including Bradford S. Stone (co-owner), indicating economic alignment with fund performance via advisory fees |
| Shares pledged/hedging | Not disclosed in the proxy statements reviewed |
| Ownership guidelines | Not disclosed for officers in fund proxies |
Employment Terms
- Term/tenure construct: Each officer serves until a successor is elected and qualifies or until earlier resignation or removal; specific employment contracts, non-compete/non-solicit, severance, change-of-control, or consulting arrangements are not disclosed at the fund level .
- 2025 adviser restructuring: Shares held by retired adviser shareholders are to be repurchased and reallocated to current management during 2025, prompting new advisory agreements—day-to-day management, services, and fees remain unchanged. This implies enhanced ownership concentration among current management (including Stone) but does not disclose individual allocations .
Performance & Track Record
| Measure | Evidence |
|---|---|
| Adviser AUM | ~$4.07B as of Jan 31, 2025 |
| DFP peer-relative performance | 1-year ≥ median; 3-year < median; 5-year ≥ median; 10-year ≥ median, per Board review |
| Advisory fees (DFP FY2024) | $3,721,761 paid to the adviser (context for adviser economics and management incentives) |
| Managed assets (DFP) | $735,524,469 (most recent fiscal year) |
Compensation Structure Analysis
- Pay transparency: Fund proxies do not disclose officer-level cash or equity compensation from the adviser; thus, pay-for-performance linkages, metric calibration, and vesting design are opaque at the public fund level .
- Alignment: Stone is a co-owner and director of the adviser, indicating direct participation in adviser economics that scale with assets and performance; DFP’s advisory fee schedule is tiered, sharing economies of scale as assets grow .
Related Party Transactions
- Advisory relationship: DFP pays advisory fees to Flaherty & Crumrine; Stone is an executive and owner of the adviser. Annual fees and managed asset bases are disclosed; no specific personal transactions with Stone are disclosed .
Risk Indicators & Red Flags
- Pledging/hedging: No disclosure for officers in reviewed proxies .
- Compensation modifications/repricing: No disclosure of equity repricing or award modifications (officers’ comp not disclosed at fund level) .
- Leadership/tenure stability: Long-tenured officer with multi-decade service across funds; no Item 5.02 8-Ks indicating departure/appointment for Stone in reviewed documents .
Compensation Peer Group and Say-on-Pay
- Not applicable/disclosed for officers; the fund discloses only director compensation and advisory agreement reviews, not executive officer peer benchmarking or say-on-pay .
Expertise & Qualifications
- Core credentials: Portfolio Manager; Executive Vice President; Chief Financial Officer; Director of the adviser; age 65 .
- Industry experience: Multi-decade preferred securities and fund finance experience across the Flaherty & Crumrine fund complex and adviser .
Work History & Career Trajectory
| Organization | Role | Tenure | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated | Vice President → Executive Vice President | VP until Sept 2014; EVP since | Progression to senior management |
| Flaherty & Crumrine Incorporated | Portfolio Manager; Chief Financial Officer | Current | Investment and finance leadership |
| Flaherty & Crumrine Funds (PFD/PFO/FFC/FLC/DFP) | CFO/VP/Treasurer | Since 2003 (PFD/PFO/FFC); since inception (FLC/DFP) | Long-standing officer of the fund complex |
Equity Ownership & Alignment (Detail Table)
| Metric | Value/Status |
|---|---|
| DFP directors/officers group ownership | <1% of shares outstanding (as of Dec 31, 2024 valuation) |
| Stone’s individual DFP holdings | Not separately disclosed in proxies (director/nominee tables exclude officers) |
| Adviser ownership | Stone is one of the owners of the adviser (private) |
| DFP advisory fee schedule | 0.575% on first $200mm of average daily Managed Assets; 0.50% above $200mm |
Employment Terms
| Term | Disclosure |
|---|---|
| Officer term | Serves until successor elected and qualifies or earlier resignation/removal |
| Employment agreement | Not disclosed at the fund level |
| Severance/CoC | Not disclosed at the fund level |
| Non-compete / Non-solicit | Not disclosed at the fund level |
Investment Implications
- Alignment: Stone’s co-ownership and directorship at the adviser link his economics to fund scale/performance, a positive alignment signal despite limited direct DFP share ownership disclosure (<1% for directors/officers as a group) .
- Transparency gap: Lack of officer-level compensation detail (metrics, vesting, clawbacks) reduces visibility into pay-for-performance rigor and potential retention incentives at the adviser level .
- Retention dynamics: The 2025 adviser restructuring reallocating equity to current management could enhance retention and founder-like incentives for Stone and peers; advisory services and fees remain unchanged, limiting operating disruption risk to DFP .
- Trading signals: No disclosed pledging/hedging policy and no officer-level insider Form 4 data in proxies; combined with <1% group ownership, insider selling pressure at the fund level appears limited based on disclosed data, but dedicated Form 4 monitoring would be needed for high-frequency signals .
- Performance context: DFP’s multi-period relative performance (≥ median over 1-, 5-, 10-year; < median over 3-year) suggests cyclical variability but favorable long-term positioning in its peer set, consistent with adviser specialization in preferreds .