Not a single one of the U.S.'s 100 largest mutual funds voted in favor of any of the 33 climate-change proxy measures last year despite the fact that 70% of their investors now favor such measures, according to a survey by the Civil Society Institute.
“Mutual Fund investors and their funds are completely at odds today on the topic of global warming,” says CSI President Pam Solo. “The fact that mutual funds are ‘missing in action’ on climate change is an unacceptable situation that investors should insist on changing.
The survey, with a report prepared by investor group Ceres, also found that 71% would not invest directly in a company that was major source of pollution linked to global warming and 79% feel companies should analyze the impact of global warming on their operations.
The Ceres report cited Columbia Management, Franklin Templeton and Neuberger Berman as the only three mutual fund companies that have guidelines that allow proxy votes to be cast in favor of climate change proposals.