Investors Against Genocide
Draw the line at
investing in genocide
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UPCOMING VOTES
Our proposal is now on the proxy ballot at American Funds, one of the three mutual fund giants. Proxies have already been mailed for this vote by 16 funds totaling $750 billion in assets making it the largest vote ever for GFI. Virtually all of American Fund customers will get materials on our proposal and some 50 million shareholders of record will have an opportunity to vote. Meeting dates in
VOTING RESULTS
Several interesting developments took place during the most recent shareholder meeting at Fidelity. At the meeting, Independent Trustee Albert Gamper acknowledged that the Fidelity Board of Trustees is “passing the buck to elected officials” to determine if investing in companies that help to fund genocide should be avoided by American mutual fund companies. In explaining the Board’s decision to oppose the proposal, Gamper stated that the issue is “very complex” and “difficult for the Board.”
Additionally, the day before the meeting reports surfaced of shareholder complaints that Fidelity’s agent tried to impede voting against Fidelity, in favor of the genocide-free investing proposal. At the meeting both Trustee Gamper and Fidelity General Counsel Scott Goebel committed to investigate the scope of the problem. If you received proxy solicitation calls in advance of a Fidelity vote and felt pressured to vote against the shareholder proposal, please contact us at info@investorsagainstgenocide.org.
The Fidelity funds recording votes at the meeting were Fidelity’s Freedom 2010 Fund at 21.9% FOR the proposal and Freedom 2020 Fund at 23.4%. These numbers are extremely high, given that Fidelity’s active opposition strongly stacks the deck against passage. We are very encouraged by the consistently high share of votes for our proposal as the campaign continues.
GOVERNMENT ACTION
Investors Against Genocide is engaged in an effort to encourage legislation and regulatory changes to address investments in companies that help to fund genocide. Following last year’s briefing before the Congressional Human Rights Caucus, we have been working with several legislators to arrange for a hearing before the House Financial Services Committee on this important topic in the future. With financial reform at the forefront of this Administration’s agenda, we believe there is a significant opportunity to change current regulations regarding investments in genocide.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Our thanks to the volunteers who have helped us increase the numbers and breadth of submissions of shareholder proposals. If you can, please help us advance the campaign further by submitting proposals to more mutual funds. We are particularly eager to have more volunteers for funds from Franklin Templeton. To submit a shareholder proposal, SEC rules require that you’ve held the fund for over a year and have at least $2,000 invested. We’ve made the process easy and confidential. Click here for details. Becoming a volunteer costs nothing, extends the reach of the campaign, forces the companies to make the position public, and increases attention on the problem of financial firms investing in genocide. Your single submission could allow all shareholders in your fund to vote, which may amount to millions of shareholders in any one fund!
Thanks so much all you’ve done and continue to do for the cause of genocide-free investing.
The Investors Against Genocide Team