Sarah Kelleher
About Sarah Kelleher
Sarah S. Kelleher is Vice President and Secretary of BNY Mellon Strategic Municipals, Inc. (LEO), age 49, serving as an officer of 48 investment companies in the BNY Mellon fund complex; she became Secretary in April 2024 after serving as Assistant Secretary since 2014 . She is Senior Managing Counsel at The Bank of New York Mellon (since September 2021), previously Managing Counsel (December 2017–September 2021) and Senior Counsel (March 2013–December 2017) . LEO is a closed-end fund; performance metrics like TSR, revenue, and EBITDA are not disclosed for individual officers in proxy filings (officer compensation and performance linkage are not provided—only director compensation and governance matters are covered) .
Past Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Strategic impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| BNY Mellon Strategic Municipals, Inc. (LEO) | Assistant Secretary; Vice President | 2014–April 2024 | Fund officer role across Board processes and governance |
| BNY Mellon Strategic Municipals, Inc. (LEO) | Secretary; Vice President | April 2024–present | Fund Secretary; signatory for meeting notices and proxy cards |
| BNY Mellon ETF Investment Adviser, LLC | Vice President | Since Feb 2020 | Senior product/compliance leadership within ETF adviser |
| The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) | Senior Managing Counsel | Since Sep 2021 | Legal leadership across BNY; officer of 48 investment companies (106 portfolios) |
| The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) | Managing Counsel | Dec 2017–Sep 2021 | Legal counsel supporting fund complex |
| The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY) | Senior Counsel | Mar 2013–Dec 2017 | Legal counsel roles prior to Managing Counsel |
External Roles
| Organization | Role | Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| None disclosed in LEO filings | — | — | Officer biographies list BNY roles; no external public board memberships are disclosed in the Fund’s proxy |
Fixed Compensation
- Officer compensation is not disclosed by LEO; proxy compensation sections cover director retainers/meeting fees only, and the Fund states it does not have a bonus, pension, profit-sharing or retirement plan for directors .
- Officers are employees of BNY Mellon/affiliates; their compensation would be paid by those entities, not by LEO, and is not reported in LEO’s proxy .
Performance Compensation
- No disclosure of officer bonus targets, equity awards (RSUs/PSUs), option awards, or performance metric weighting for officers in LEO filings .
- Accordingly, vesting schedules, performance goals, clawbacks, tax gross-ups, deferred compensation, pension/SERP, and perquisites are not disclosed for officers in LEO proxies .
Equity Ownership & Alignment
- The Fund explicitly reports that officers (including the Secretary) held no LEO Common Stock or preferred shares as of the applicable record dates.
| Metric | FY 2023 (as of Apr 10, 2023) | FY 2024 (as of Apr 10, 2024) | FY 2025 (as of Apr 10, 2025) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fund Common Stock owned (shares) | None | None | None |
| Preferred shares (APS/VMTP) owned (shares) | None | None | None |
- Section 16 compliance: the Fund reported compliance for insiders, with no delinquent filings for officers; FY2025 noted one late Form 4 for Bank of America (not an officer), reinforcing that no officer transactions were reported . FY2024 likewise lists no officer ownership and no officer delinquent filings .
Employment Terms
- Officers “hold office for an indefinite term until the officer’s successor is elected and has qualified.” This is the stated term for Fund officers; no individual employment contract or severance/change-of-control terms for officers are disclosed by the Fund .
- Role evidencing: Kelleher is the Secretary signing notices of annual meetings and is named as an attorney and proxy on proxy cards for common and preferred holders, reflecting governance responsibilities rather than incentive-aligned pay .
- Office/address and fund scale context: Fund principal executive office at 240 Greenwich Street, NY; common stock outstanding 62,290,854 and VMTP shares outstanding 3,156 as of April 10, 2025 (context for governance scope, not ownership) .
Investment Implications
- Compensation alignment: No LEO-based equity, option, or performance-linked pay is disclosed for officers; governance duties dominate the role. With zero reported LEO share ownership, there is no officer-related selling pressure, and insider trading signals from Kelleher are absent .
- Retention risk: Indefinite officer terms and BNY employment suggest organizational continuity; absent severance/change-of-control details, retention economics are unknown from LEO filings .
- Trading signals: Officer-level disclosures provide no buy/sell indicators. Monitoring director-level governance and 5% holders, as well as fund-level NAV/discount dynamics, is more relevant to LEO price action than officer-specific incentives. Recent 5% holder data (e.g., Saba Capital) indicates activist interest at the fund level, not officer alignment .