Investors
Against Genocide
Draw
the line at investing in genocide
Votes are now being cast
by shareholders of 15 Fidelity funds including the widely held Contrafund,
Magellan and Puritan funds in advance of shareholder meetings on May
14.
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Shareholders of six Fidelity
funds have now voted and the results show
consistently strong support for genocide-free investing.The results are especially impressive given
that Fidelity is actively opposing the proposal and that a large percentage of
opposing votes were cast by institutional shareholders, “industry insiders,” and
others who may be automatically voting with management.Although still short of winning, the results
contrast dramatically with those of most shareholder proposals where social
issues lose by overwhelming numbers.
This is a gap we can
close if individual investors take the time to vote.In the first two rounds of voting, 50% to 60%
of the shareholders eligible to vote did not return ballots expressing their
opinion on the proposal.For the May 14
vote, we need to reach individual voters who may otherwise not vote.If just one third of these people vote for
genocide-free investing, then the proposal will pass.Once this happens, we will begin writing a
new, genocide-free, chapter in mutual fund
history.
This is why each vote cast by
individual shareholders is so important.We know that these individuals do not want
their personal savings to be tied to the killings in
We need your help to
“get out the vote.” This is an unprecedented opportunity for ordinary
Americans to be heard on this crucial social concern.
Write a letter to the
editor of your local paper.Most local weekly newspapers will publish all letters to the editor
received from town residents.You can
easily find the email address by searching for your paper on the Internet.To make it easy, we’ve drafted a sample
letter. Click here for a
letter you can just cut and paste into an email and send to your hometown
paper.
Tell your
friends. Click here for an
email you can cut and paste to send to your contact list.
Make a
donation. We have the opportunity to send a mailing to targeted
Fidelity shareholders but lack the necessary funding.A mailing to shareholders would allow us to
directly reach those with the power to vote.We are a volunteer-based organization so 100% of your contribution will
go directly to voter outreach.Click here to
contribute.
Thank you for your ongoing support of genocide-free
investing.
With appreciation,
The IAG team
Here are some links to news about our campaign for
genocide-free investing:
Blood for cash - Fidelity vote reflects changing , MarketWatch, 04-08-2008
Don't let your mutual-fund firm bully you into voting, Star-Telegram, 04-13-2008
The Fidelity genocide vote, click
video window, MarketWatch, 04-08-2008
Interview with Eric Cohen
on genocide-free investing, Fox Business News, 03-19-2008
Darfur outrage spreads to mutual funds - Shareholders
get a say, Wall Street Journal,
03-12-2008
Mutual funds get resolutions on
Sudan, Risk
Metrics, 03-28-2008
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ABOUT INVESTORS AGAINST
GENOCIDE
Investors Against Genocide (IAG) is a non-profit
organization dedicated to convincing mutual fund and other investment firms to
change their investing strategy so as to avoid complicity in genocide.The campaign works with individuals,
companies, organizations, financial institutions, the press, investment firm
employees, and government agencies to build awareness and to create financial,
public relations, and regulatory pressure for investment firms to change. The
ultimate goals are that investment firms make a commitment to genocide-free
investing and that the Government of Sudan ends its deadly genocide in