Funds Cave to Google's Blind Eye at Censorship

Not too long ago your mutual fund managers were asked to take a stand, on your behalf, in defense of freedom.

They didn't have to pick up a gun and fight. Or hide dissidents in the attic. They didn't even have to reach into their wallets.

All they had to do was cast a vote at the GoogleGOOG annual general meeting urging the powerful company to stand up to censorship around the world.

Simple. Easy. Powerful.

So how did they do?

Mutual fund managers are required to account for their proxy votes every year in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The proposal introduced by New York City Comptroller William Thompson Jr. to resist the Chinese government's demand for censorship was voted down in May, but the voting reports have only just come out. They show who stood up and who sat down.

If you'd like to think that America stood for freedom at home and abroad, they make depressing reading.

American funds' AGTHXGrowth Fund of America (AGTHX) has the kind of name designed to make your heart stir on the Fourth of July. But don't ask the fund managers to fly the flag for freedom at Google. They didn't. They sided with Google's management and the tyrants in Beijing, and voted against Thompson.

American Funds declined to comment.

The folks at index giant Vanguard manage more of America's investments than any other company. They're based in Valley Forge, Penn., an historic site from the War of Independence. The Liberty Bell is just down the road in Philly.

Vanguard's vote on freedom at Google, through the FTSMXTotal Stock Market Fund (VTSMX)? Against.