James Windels
About James Windels
Treasurer of BNY Mellon Strategic Municipals, Inc. (LEO) since 2012; age 66 as of the 2025 proxy. He is Director of BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc. (since February 2023), Vice President of the Investment Adviser (since September 2020), and Director – BNY Fund Administration; he also serves as an officer across 48 investment companies (106 portfolios) in the BNY complex, evidencing deep fund administration credentials and continuity in the role. Education is not disclosed in the proxy; no fund-level performance metrics (TSR, revenue, EBITDA) are presented for officers.
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc. | Director | Since Feb 2023 | Senior leadership at Investment Adviser; indicates elevated influence over fund administration policies |
| BNY Mellon Investment Adviser, Inc. | Vice President | Since Sep 2020 | Executive role at adviser overseeing fund administration activities |
| BNY Fund Administration | Director | Ongoing (past 5 years) | Direct oversight of fund accounting/administration operations |
| Dreyfus (legacy brand within BNY Mellon) | Director – Mutual Fund Accounting | 2014–2018 | Led mutual fund accounting across the Dreyfus complex |
| BNY Mellon Strategic Municipals, Inc. (LEO) | Treasurer | 2012–present | Principal financial officer for the Fund |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| Not disclosed in proxy | — | — | Officer biographies list only roles at the Investment Adviser and BNY Fund Administration; no external directorships noted |
Fixed Compensation
- Officer-specific cash compensation (base salary, target bonus, actual bonus) is not disclosed in the Fund’s proxy. The proxy’s compensation disclosures apply to Directors (board members), not officers.
- The Fund states it does not have a bonus, pension, profit-sharing or retirement plan for Directors; no officer compensation program is described.
“The function of the Compensation Committee is to establish the appropriate compensation for serving on the Board… The Fund does not have a bonus, pension, profit-sharing or retirement plan.”
Performance Compensation
- No disclosures of officer performance-based compensation (RSUs/PSUs, options, performance metrics, vesting schedules) are provided for Fund officers in the proxy.
Equity Ownership & Alignment
| Item | FY 2024 (as of Apr 10, 2024) | FY 2025 (as of Apr 10, 2025) |
|---|---|---|
| Common Stock owned | None (officers) | None (officers) |
| VMTP Shares owned | None (officers) | None (officers) |
| Ownership % of class | 0% (officers) | 0% (officers) |
| Shares pledged | Not disclosed | Not disclosed |
- The proxy’s Part III confirms no officers (including Treasurer) held any Fund Common Stock or VMTP Shares at the stated dates.
Employment Terms
| Term | Detail |
|---|---|
| Fund officer role | Treasurer (since 2012); indefinite term until successor elected and qualified |
| Age | 64 (2023 proxy), 65 (2024 proxy), 66 (2025 proxy) |
| Adviser roles | Vice President (since Sep 2020); Director (since Feb 2023) |
| Administration role | Director – BNY Fund Administration (current) |
| Non-compete / non-solicit | Not disclosed in proxy |
| Severance / change-of-control | Not disclosed in proxy |
| Clawbacks / tax gross-ups | Not disclosed in proxy |
Scope Across Investment Companies (context on responsibilities)
| Metric | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Officer across investment companies (portfolios) | 70 (171) | 70 (172) | 66 (164) | 65 (160) | 63 (150) | 54 (123) | 53 (116) | 48 (106) |
Board Governance (context)
- Fund governance features Audit, Nominating, Compensation, and Litigation Committees; these disclosures pertain to Directors (board members), not officers.
Investment Implications
- Alignment: No Fund share ownership is disclosed for officers, including the Treasurer; thus, there is no direct “skin-in-the-game” in LEO common or VMTP shares, and no pledging is reported. This reduces insider selling pressure signals but limits equity-aligned incentives at the Fund level.
- Compensation transparency: Officer compensation is determined at the Investment Adviser and is not disclosed in the Fund proxy; absent pay-for-performance metrics or vesting schedules at the Fund level, investor analysis must rely on the Adviser’s internal frameworks rather than Fund documents.
- Retention/continuity: Long tenure (Treasurer since 2012) and recent elevation to Director at the Investment Adviser (2023) suggest institutional continuity and embedded expertise in fund accounting and administration—a positive for operational execution risk.
- Trading signals: With no Fund share ownership and no officer Form 4 activity indicated in the proxy’s ownership section, there are no insider transactions to inform near-term trading signals for LEO.