Proxy win
Shareholders at the ING Emerging Countries Fund approved the genocide-free investing proposal by a wide margin in a vote on June 28, 2012. The proposal passed 59.8% to 10.7% with 29.5% abstaining. This decisive win at ING is a first for the genocide-free investing proposal and affirms our earlier research showing that the vast majority of Americans want to avoid investments tied to genocide.
Significantly, ING did not issue a management recommendation regarding how shareholders should vote on the proposal on its proxy ballot. By remaining neutral, instead of actively opposing the proposal as other financial firms like Fidelity, Vanguard and JPMorgan Chase have done, the opinions of individual shareholders were more accurately represented in the vote tallies and resulted in this clear win for the proposal.
A year after the vote, ING informed Investors Against Genocide of its decision to take no action to implement genocide-free investing despite the 2012 proxy vote which strongly endorsed having genocide-free investing policy.
On August 7, 2013, a coalition of investors called on ING to reconsider its decision to disregard the results of the proxy vote. Read more about the letter here.
- Victory for Genocide-free Investing at ING, IAG press release, June 29, 2012
- Genocide-Free Investing Resolution Wins Majority Vote, Social Funds, June 30, 2012
- ING Fund Approves Anti-Genocide Plank, Ignites, July 2, 2012
- ING mutual fund vote marks first win for rights activists, Reuters, July 20, 2012
- SEC filing by ING showing final voting tally of 59.8% in favor vs. 10.7% against, (a slight change from the preliminary result of 59.2% vs. 10.8%,) December 27, 2012
- Letter from a coalition of investors calling on ING to reconsider its decision to disregard the results of the proxy vote, August 7, 2013
- Institutional Investors Ask ING US to Heed Results of Anti-genocide Proxy Vote, IAG press release, August 7, 2013
- Shareholders to ING: stop investing in genocidal Sudan, The Guardian, August 20, 2013
