James Kirchner
About James Kirchner
James F. Kirchner (born 1967) serves as Treasurer of Eaton Vance California Municipal Bond Fund (EVM) and Eaton Vance New York Municipal Bond Fund and has held this officer position since 2007. He is a Vice President of Eaton Vance and Boston Management and Research (BMR) and, since 2016, a Vice President of Calvert Research and Management (CRM), reflecting a long-tenured fund finance/treasury leadership role across the Eaton Vance/Morgan Stanley Investment Management complex . Officer compensation is not disclosed in the Fund’s proxy; officers are affiliated with Eaton Vance and “will benefit from any advisory and/or administration fees paid by each Fund to Eaton Vance,” and the proxy provides Trustee (not officer) remuneration only . Trustees and executive officers as a group beneficially owned less than 1% of outstanding common shares as of the record dates, indicating limited direct equity alignment at the fund level .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eaton Vance; Boston Management and Research (BMR) | Vice President; Fund Treasurer (EVM/ENX) | VP role current; Treasurer since 2007 | Oversees fund treasury, financial reporting, and control environment across a large complex of registered funds . |
| Calvert Research and Management (CRM) | Vice President | Since 2016 | Extends governance/operational oversight across Calvert funds within the complex . |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| — | — | — | No external directorships or roles for Kirchner are disclosed in the EVM proxy materials . |
Fixed Compensation
- Officer compensation (including base salary and cash bonus) is not disclosed by the Fund; the proxy reports compensation for noninterested Trustees only. Officers are employees of Eaton Vance/BMR (and affiliated with Morgan Stanley Investment Management) and benefit indirectly from advisory/administration fees paid by the Fund to Eaton Vance; no officer pay details (salary/bonus) are provided .
- Illustrative context (Trustee, not officer): noninterested Trustee fees and total complex compensation are disclosed (e.g., FY2024 trustee fees per fund and total complex compensation), but these figures are not applicable to officers .
Performance Compensation
- Equity awards (RSUs/PSUs), options, performance metrics, vesting schedules, retention bonuses, and clawbacks for Kirchner are not disclosed in the Fund’s proxy. The Fund provides no officer incentive plan detail; only Trustee remuneration appears .
- No disclosures on metric weighting (e.g., TSR, revenue/EBITDA growth, ESG targets), payout curves, or realized incentive payouts for officers are provided .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Individual beneficial ownership | Not individually itemized for officers in the proxy . |
| Group ownership (Trustees + executive officers) | Less than 1% of outstanding common shares (as of July 14, 2025; and as of May 30, 2023) . |
| Pledging/hedging | No pledging or hedging disclosures related to Kirchner are provided . |
| Ownership guidelines | No officer stock ownership guidelines disclosed for the Funds; trustees’ governance and committee structures are described, but officer ownership policies are not . |
Employment Terms
- Start date/tenure: Officer of the Funds since 2007 (Treasurer) .
- Employer/affiliations: Vice President of Eaton Vance and BMR; Vice President of CRM since 2016; officers are based at One Post Office Square, Boston, MA .
- Contractual terms: No employment agreement, non-compete/non-solicit, severance, change-of-control, accelerated vesting, or clawback terms for officers are disclosed in the Fund’s proxy .
- Section 16 compliance: The proxy notes Section 16(a) ownership reporting compliance for Trustees and officers as a group for the applicable year, without individual detail .
Investment Implications
- Pay-for-performance visibility: Lack of disclosed officer compensation and incentive metrics limits direct assessment of Kirchner’s cash/equity mix, performance linkage, and vesting-related selling pressure—typical of 1940 Act fund proxies that report Trustee compensation but not officer pay .
- Alignment: With Trustees and executive officers as a group owning under 1% of shares, direct fund-level equity alignment appears limited; no pledging disclosures are provided for officers .
- Retention and change risk: Kirchner has long tenure (Treasurer since 2007) with broad responsibilities across 100+ Eaton Vance/Calvert funds, suggesting institutional continuity; no officer severance or change-in-control protections are disclosed at the Fund level .
- Structural catalyst: In 2025, the Boards recommended liquidation/termination of the Funds, citing asset size, activist ownership, and the opportunity for holders to realize NAV less transaction costs. While this is fund-level governance (not officer compensation), it frames near-term operational priorities (orderly wind-down under Board oversight) rather than strategic growth initiatives; this context does not reveal officer economics (severance, accelerated vesting) tied to liquidation .
Bottom line: Kirchner is a long-serving fund treasurer and Eaton Vance/BMR vice president with extensive cross-complex responsibilities. However, the Fund provides no officer compensation or incentive disclosures, limiting evaluation of pay-for-performance alignment, vesting overhang, or insider selling pressure. Group ownership under 1% suggests modest direct equity alignment at the fund level; no pledging or CIC economics are disclosed. Given the 2025 liquidation recommendation, investor focus should remain on fund-level governance and wind-down execution rather than officer-level incentives, which are not reported by the Fund .