David H. Chow

About David H. Chow

David H. Chow (born 1957) is an Independent Trustee of MMD, serving since 2016 after an Advisory Board stint in 2015; he is a CFA Charterholder (since 1989) and founder/CEO of DanCourt Management, LLC, with 35+ years of capital markets and investment experience including 15 years as a private equity GP . He currently chairs MMD’s Investment Committee (since January 2022) and previously chaired the Risk & Compliance Oversight Committee from 2017–2021, evidencing deep governance engagement . His prior roles include Independent Chair of the VanEck Vectors ETF Trust (2008–2022; trustee since 2006), Audit Chair at Forward Management LLC (2008–2015), and trustee of Berea College (2009–2024) with service as Investment Committee Chair .

Past Roles

External Roles

Board Governance

• Independence: The Board comprises seven Trustees, six independent under the 1940 Act; Chow is disclosed as an Independent Trustee .
• Committee leadership: Investment Committee Chair (since Jan 2022) ; prior Risk & Compliance Oversight Committee Chair (2017–2021) .
• Current committee memberships:
  • Operations Oversight Committee (renamed from Risk & Compliance): Member; 5 meetings in FY2025 .
  • Risk & Compliance Oversight Committee: Member; 8 meetings in FY2024 .
  • Contracts Committee: Member; 8 meetings in FY2024 .
  • Valuation Committee: Member in prior years .
  • Audit Committee Financial Expert: Chow served as an Audit Committee Financial Expert for the group in earlier disclosures .
• Attendance and Board activity:
  • FY2025: Board held 9 regular meetings; each Trustee attended ≥75% of Board and Committee meetings; six Trustees attended the 2024 shareholder meeting .
  • FY2024: Board held 10 regular meetings; each Trustee attended ≥75%; none of the Trustees attended the 2023 shareholder meeting .

Fixed Compensation

• Structure: Independent Trustees receive an annual retainer and a fee per regularly scheduled Board/Committee meeting; Chair of the Board receives an additional annual fee; expenses reimbursed; pro-rata allocation across fund complex .
• Historical changes: Effective Jan 1, 2017, annual retainer increased to $205,000; Committee Chair fees eliminated; Board Chair fee reduced to $60,000; meeting fees unchanged .

Performance Compensation

Other Directorships & Interlocks

Expertise & Qualifications

• CFA Charterholder (since 1989) .
• 35+ years capital markets/investment experience; 15 years as private equity GP .
• Governance depth: Chaired Investment and Risk/Compliance committees; prior Audit Chair experience; served as Audit Committee Financial Expert historically .

Equity Ownership

Equity Ownership & Alignment Analysis

• Chow reports no direct MMD fund equity holdings, which modestly weakens single-fund alignment; however, he holds over $100,000 across the family of investment companies, indicating broader platform alignment .
• Trustees and Officers as a group owned <1% of the Fund’s beneficial interests in recent years, consistent with fund governance norms .

Insider Trades

• No insider Form 4 transactions identified for “David H. Chow” in MMD from Jan 1, 2016 through Nov 20, 2025 (insider-trades skill run; none returned).

Governance Assessment

• Strengths:
  • Sustained leadership of key oversight committees (Investment Committee Chair; prior Risk & Compliance Chair) signals active stewardship of investment and compliance risk .
  • Attendance at ≥75% of Board/Committee meetings and robust committee meeting cadence (e.g., RCOC 8 meetings in FY2024; Operations Oversight 5 meetings in FY2025; Contracts 8 in FY2024) indicate engagement .
  • Deep audit and valuation oversight experience; historical designation as Audit Committee Financial Expert enhances Board financial oversight .
• Alignment:
  • No MMD-specific share ownership, but material holdings across the fund family; compensation is fixed retainer/meeting fees without equity, consistent with investment company governance .
• RED FLAGS / Watch items:
  • 2016 proxy disclosed late Section 16 filings for Chow and another trustee (though noted they did not beneficially own or transact in Fund securities), a minor historical compliance lapse .
  • No explicit pledging/hedging policies for trustees found in reviewed proxies; continue monitoring for any related-party transactions or policy disclosures (none identified in reviewed sections) .
• Signals:
  • Transition from Committee Chair fees to streamlined retainer structure (2017) and steady upward trend in total complex compensation (e.g., $370k FY2024 → $390k FY2025) are typical of broader complex oversight loads; not indicative of pay-for-performance risk given structure .
  • Shareholder meeting attendance improved in 2024 (six Trustees present) versus 2023 (none present), suggesting responsiveness to investor engagement optics .

Appendix: Committee Detail (recent years)

All information is sourced from MMD’s DEF 14A proxy statements and exhibits: 2016 , 2017 , 2018 , 2020 , 2021 , 2022 , 2023 , 2024 , 2025 .