American Funds sells holdings in Chinese oil company targeted by anti-genocide activists
LOS ANGELES February 17, 2010 (AP) The Associated Press
American Funds has sold nearly all its stock in a Chinese oil company that anti-genocide activists are targeting because of the company's ties to Sudan.
Three of American Funds' biggest mutual funds owned a combined $190 million in PetroChina shares last fall. But new quarterly reports show the total was $2.7 million as of Dec. 31, a 99 percent reduction in PetroChina holdings.
The sales come after American Funds shareholders in November rejected a measure by Investors Against Genocide. The group wants funds to screen out investments linked to genocide in hot spots like Sudan, where PetroChina operates.
American Funds spokesman Chuck Freadhoff declined to comment on the PetroChina sales.
American is among the biggest fund families with nearly $900 billion. It's privately owned by Los Angeles-based Capital Group.