Mike Collins This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. Fund Industry Opposes SEC Proxy Plan

   biz.yahoo.com/ibd/030117/funds - [Cached]

   Published on: 1/17/2003   Last Visited: 1/17/2003

   "Until they wake up and take corporate governance seriously, mutual fund companies will continue to vote with management," said Mike Collins, who heads investment issues for the AFL-CIO.
   
   Mutual funds hold $3.4 trillion in stock, about a fifth of all shares, says the SEC. That gives them enormous clout.
   
   Only 10.5% of the largest 2,000 public companies have policies requiring confidential voting, according to the Investor Responsibility Research Center. It researches proxy issues for big investors. In most companies, management knows how shareholders vote.
   ...
   But Collins said proxy solicitors hired by labor figured it out by watching the blocks come in. Fidelity then owned 11% of the shares, making it the biggest institutional shareholder.
   
   Fidelity voted against a 1998 proposal to give Tyco an independent board. And it failed to oppose moves by Nabors Industries and Stanley Works to reincorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes, Collins says. Stanley Works later dropped its change-of-address plans.