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New Ceres Study: Mutual Funds Give Climate Change Proxy Resolutions a Cold Shoulder, Even as Pension Funds Warm Up to Them.

Article Excerpt
BOSTON, Dec. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- A mere 2 percent of the assets of the largest 100 mutual funds in America voted in 2004 to support shareholder resolutions calling for more corporate disclosure on the financial impacts from global warming, according to a new Ceres study authored by the Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) and released today by Results for America, a project of the Civil Society Institute.

The study found that 25 of the 28 investment companies controlling these 100 funds did not heed any requests for closer examination of emerging climate risks. Instead, they abstained or opposed all shareholder proposals that came before them in 2004 seeking analysis and disclosure of the financial risks posed by global warming. By contrast, pension funds and many other investors have backed global warming resolutions in growing numbers -- with voting support levels reaching a record high of 37 percent at some 2004 annual meetings.

The new Ceres study, "Unexamined Risk: How Mutual Funds Vote on Global Warming Shareholder Resolutions," released today was made possible by a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission requirement that mutual funds publicly disclose their proxy votes and...

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