James F. Kirchner
About James F. Kirchner
James F. Kirchner (born 1967) serves as Treasurer and principal financial officer of Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund (EIM) and has held the Treasurer role since 2007. He is a Vice President of Eaton Vance and Boston Management and Research (BMR), and also a Vice President of Calvert Research and Management (CRM) since 2016; he is an officer across more than 100 registered investment companies within the complex. Because EIM’s officers are employees of Eaton Vance/Morgan Stanley, the fund highlights that by virtue of their roles and ownership of Morgan Stanley stock, officers “will benefit” from advisory/administration fees paid by the fund to Eaton Vance. The fund’s proxy statements do not provide individual officer compensation metrics or fund-level TSR/financial performance tied to Mr. Kirchner’s pay.
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eaton Vance Municipal Bond Fund (EIM) | Treasurer (principal financial officer) | 2007–present | Long-tenured PFO overseeing fund financial reporting and controls for a closed-end municipal fund |
| Eaton Vance / Boston Management and Research (BMR) | Vice President | Not stated (current) | Senior fund-complex officer across 122 registered investment companies (as of Aug-2025) |
| Calvert Research and Management (CRM) | Vice President | Since 2016 (current) | Officer of 45 registered investment companies advised/administered by CRM (as of Aug-2025) |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | EIM’s officer listings for Mr. Kirchner identify current roles at Eaton Vance, BMR, and CRM; no additional external directorships are specified in the fund’s proxy disclosures |
Fixed Compensation
- EIM’s proxy statements report trustee compensation but do not disclose salaries, target/actual bonuses, perquisites, pensions, or other fixed-pay elements for officers. Officers are employees of Eaton Vance (a Morgan Stanley affiliate) and, due to their roles and MS ownership, will benefit from fees paid by EIM to Eaton Vance; no fund-level officer pay tables are provided.
Performance Compensation
- No disclosure of officer performance metrics (e.g., revenue growth, EBITDA, TSR, ESG goals), incentive weightings, targets/actuals, vesting schedules, or clawback terms for EIM’s officers appears in the fund’s proxy materials. Trustee compensation schedules are detailed, but not officer incentive frameworks.
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Individual beneficial ownership (EIM shares) | As of the August 2025 tender offer filing, “none of the Trustees, officers, or associates beneficially own any Shares of the Fund” (implies no EIM holdings by Mr. Kirchner at that time) |
| Group ownership | Trustees and executive officers of the Fund, individually and as a group, owned beneficially less than 1% of outstanding shares as of Aug 20, 2025 (and similarly as of May 28, 2024) |
| Pledging/Hedging | No pledging by officers is disclosed; not discussed in the proxy |
| Section 16 compliance | Based on proxy review, all Trustees and officers complied with Section 16(a) filings (no delinquent reports) for the most recent fiscal periods reported |
| Intent to tender in issuer tender offers | As of Aug 6, 2025, “none of the Trustees, officers, or associates currently intends to tender” and there were no officer/trustee transactions in the prior 60 days |
Implications:
- Alignment via direct share ownership in EIM appears limited given the absence of officer holdings and sub‑1% group ownership; conversely, lack of ownership reduces insider selling pressure and pledging risks.
Employment Terms
- Term: Officers “hold indefinite terms of office.”
- Employer/Compensation source: Officers are employees of Eaton Vance (an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Morgan Stanley); because of their positions and MS stock ownership, they benefit from advisory/administration fees paid by the Fund to Eaton Vance. Officer compensation terms, severance, change-in-control provisions, non-compete, and clawbacks are not disclosed at the fund level.
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance visibility is low: EIM does not disclose officer salary/bonus/PSU/RSU structures or performance metrics for officers, limiting direct assessment of Mr. Kirchner’s incentive alignment. The fund explicitly details trustee pay but not officer compensation.
- Alignment via ownership is minimal: Officers (including Mr. Kirchner) did not beneficially own EIM shares as of the August 2025 tender-offer filing; trustees and executive officers as a group owned less than 1% at the respective proxy record dates. This curbs insider selling/pledging risk but offers limited direct equity alignment with EIM shareholders.
- Tenure and continuity: Mr. Kirchner’s long service as Treasurer (since 2007) signals operational continuity in fund financial oversight and reporting, which can be a positive for process reliability and audit outcomes.
- Trading signal context: With officers not holding shares and not intending to tender, corporate actions (e.g., tender offers agreed under the standstill with Karpus) are unlikely to be influenced by officer personal liquidity needs; discount/NAV dynamics and activist engagement remain the primary trading vectors for EIM.
Bottom line: Mr. Kirchner is a long-tenured PFO embedded within the Eaton Vance/Morgan Stanley complex. Fund disclosures show no officer share ownership and no officer-level incentive detail, suggesting retention and incentives are driven by parent-company policies rather than fund-level metrics. For trading, watch fund discount/NAV, tender activity under the Karpus standstill, and board/trustee governance actions rather than insider ownership or selling pressure.