Are Ballots Too Secret? Fund Advisers Should Tell How They Vote Proxies

The AFL-CIO, following the lead of other consumer representatives, has petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission to require mutual funds to disclose their portfolio holdings more frequently.

The world's largest union organization joins 13 other groups, including my advocacy group, Fund Democracy, in asking the SEC to require that funds invest at least 85% of their assets in the types of securities their names suggest and to disclose their portfolios monthly on the Internet.

The AFL-CIO's petition actually goes further, also demanding that funds disclose their proxy voting policies and voting records as well. Corporate governance activists have long campaigned for greater accountability in corporate boardrooms, and funds that make social criteria part of their investing strategies have recently joined their ranks. The AFL-CIO's support will help push the accountability issue onto fund shareholders' radar screens. ...