Joining a number of other non-financial organizations that have supported the cause, the AFL-CIO has prepared a letter for the SEC, urging better, more frequent disclosure of mutual fund holdings, according to an employee in the AFL-CIO's office of investment. The employee was not certain whether the document, which was prepared last week, had been sent.
The Consumer Federation of America of Washington, D.C. filed a petition with the SEC earlier this month seeking monthly disclosure of fund holdings. Fund Democracy LLC of Chevy Chase, Md. filed a similar petition earlier this summer. The debate had remained within the confines of the fund industry until these consumer interest groups began supporting more frequent disclosure.
Under current law, mutual funds are required to disclose their portfolio holdings twice annually. While funds are free to disclose their holdings more frequently, few do so. Eighteen of the 25 largest fund companies fully disclose their portfolio holdings only semi-annually, and those 18 companies represent more than 50 percent of mutual fund assets, according to Fund Democracy of Chevy Chase, Md.
