Our History

In 1995, the Investment Company Institute (ICI) created a committee that focused primarily on education issues for directors. As interest in fund governance grew, ICI recognized the need for an office dedicated to serving independent directors—and launched IDC in 2004.

About IDC 

IDC supports investment company independent directors in fulfilling their responsibilities to represent the interests of fund shareholders. It promotes the highest standards of fund governance for the benefit and protection of fund shareholders. And it keeps fund directors informed about issues that affect their ability to fulfill their responsibilities while adapting to the rapidly changing financial services landscape.

The council’s education programs and services include:

• An annual fund directors’ conference, the premier event for fund directors
• Webinars on topics of current interest to fund directors
• Publications on fund board oversight practices
• Board Update—a monthly newsletter for fund directors
• Directors’ chapter meetings—informal meetings held in nine cities across the country
• ICI Daily—a daily email of top fund industry news stories that includes IDC’s memoranda to directors about regulatory and industry developments

IDC also communicates the views of fund independent directors to policymakers—including Congress and the Securities and Exchange Commission—and promotes public understanding of the role and responsibilities of fund directors through ongoing communications with the media, regulators, and legislators.

A Governing Council composed of fund independent directors leads IDC’s activities, with support from dedicated staff. IDC also has access to ICI’s resources and expertise, including research and data.

For more information on IDC’s activities, see the 2019 Annual Review.

IDC welcomes the participation and contributions of all fund independent directors.

Thomas T. Kim

Thomas T. Kim is managing director of the Independent Directors Council. In leading IDC, Kim advances the education, communication, and public policy priorities of independent directors on the boards of regulated investment companies. Before joining IDC, he served as senior vice president at the Mortgage Bankers Association, where he led strategy, public policy, governance, and member engagement across the organization’s commercial real estate finance membership. Previously, he managed regulatory and policy matters affecting mortgage investments and capital markets as associate general counsel at Freddie Mac. Kim is a veteran of ICI, having served as associate counsel at the Institute earlier in his career. He received his BA, summa cum laude, from the University of California, Irvine; JD from the UCLA School of Law, where he served as a law review editor; and LLM, with distinction, from the Georgetown University Law Center. Downloadable photo of Thomas T. Kim: .zip