Christopher Baker
About Christopher Baker
Christopher Baker (Year of Birth: 1976) serves as Chief Compliance Officer of Allspring Utilities and High Income Fund (ERH) and has held this position since 2022. He is concurrently the Global Chief Compliance Officer for Allspring Global Investments (since 2022), and previously served in senior compliance roles at State Street Global Advisors (2010–2021) . ERH’s filings disclose no officer-level pay or performance metric linkage at the fund; officers’ compensation is borne by the adviser, not the fund .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Allspring Global Investments | Global Chief Compliance Officer | 2022–present | Leads global compliance for the adviser to ERH |
| State Street Global Advisors | Chief Compliance Officer | 2018–2021 | Firm-level compliance leadership |
| State Street (AIS, Sector Solutions, Global Marketing) | Senior Compliance Officer | 2015–2018 | Senior compliance oversight across divisions |
| State Street Global Advisors | VP, Global Head of Investment and Marketing Compliance | 2010–2015 | Led investment and marketing compliance |
Fixed Compensation
ERH discloses that its principal executive officers (including the CCO) are not compensated by the fund; compensation is paid by Allspring Funds Management or an affiliate.
| Fiscal Year (Aug 31) | Compensation from ERH Fund | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | $0 | “Officers…are borne by Allspring… The Fund’s principal executive officers did not receive any compensation… for FY 2022.” |
| 2023 | $0 | Same disclosure for FY 2023 |
| 2024 | $0 | Same disclosure for FY 2024 |
| 2025 | $0 | Same disclosure for FY 2025 |
Performance Compensation
ERH’s proxy does not disclose officer bonus targets, performance metrics, equity awards, or vesting terms for fund officers because officers are compensated by the adviser, not by the fund .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Filing Date | SEC Form | Title at ERH | Common Shares Beneficially Owned | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022-01-12 | Form 3 | Chief Compliance Officer | 0 | Initial statement of beneficial ownership reported “No securities are beneficially owned.” |
- Section 16(a) compliance sections note where Forms 3/4/5 are available but do not add officer-specific holdings beyond the filings listed above .
Employment Terms
- ERH does not disclose officer employment agreements, severance, change-in-control, clawback, hedging/pledging, or ownership guideline details; officers are employees of the adviser (Allspring) and not paid by the fund .
Investment Implications
- Ownership alignment: The initial Form 3 reported zero ERH shares beneficially owned by Baker, indicating limited direct share-based alignment with ERH common shareholders as of that date .
- Selling pressure: With no reported beneficial ownership on the initial filing, there is no apparent near-term insider selling overhang tied to Baker’s personal holdings at that time .
- Pay-for-performance visibility: Because officer compensation is borne by Allspring, ERH does not disclose performance metrics, targets, or severance/COC economics for officers, limiting investors’ ability to assess incentive alignment or retention terms via fund filings .