Environmentalist Takes on Fund Industry

According to a new study, three quarters of all mutual fund investors want their funds to "ask questions about the potential impact of global warming on the companies in which they are investing."

Ceres, an investor coalition with an interest in environmental issues, commissioned the survey.

The study found that the response from funds to the environmental concerns of investors has been to ignore the issue, with none of the 100 biggest mutual funds in the U.S. supporting any of the 33 global warming resolutions filed with U.S. companies in 2005.

Most have voting policies in place that require them to abstain on or oppose all environment-related resolutions at shareholder meetings, the study indicates.

In a report from the Financial Times, Mindy Lubber, president of Ceres, criticized the complacency of fund managers.

"Mutual funds are ignoring the growing evidence that climate change will have far-reaching fiscal impacts on a wide range of business sectors, whether from rising insurance claims due to hurricanes and other natural disasters or growing worldwide demand for hybrid vehicles and other 'clean' technologies," she said.

The staff of Money Management Executive ("MME") has prepared these capsule summaries based on reports published by the news sources to which they are attributed. Those news sources are not associated with MME, and have not prepared, sponsored, endorsed, or approved these summaries.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Money Management Executive
MORE FROM FINANCIAL PLANNING