MessageFrom: Jay R Smith [jay@teamsters142.org]
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2002 4:27 PM
To: rule-comments@sec.gov
Subject: File No. S7-36-02

December 6, 2002
 
 
Mr. Jonathan G. Katz, Secretary
Securities and Exchange Commission
450 Fifth Street, N.W.
Washington, DC  20549
 
Re:  File No. S7-36-02
 
Dear Mr. Katz:
 
    On behalf of the six thousand (members/beneficiaries) of Teamsters 
Union No. 142 Pension Trust Fund, I am writing to express strong 
support for the Securities and Exchange Commission's recent proposal, 
S7-36-02, Disclosure of Proxy Voting Policies and Proxy Voting Records 
by Registered Management Investment Companies.  Most importantly, I 
strongly support those provisions that would require mutual funds to 
disclose their actual votes cast.
 
    Our (beneficiaries/members) invest both individually, often through 
mutual funds, and through a variety of benefit plans, including 401(k) 
plans that offer mutual fund investment options.  Like other investment 
managers that manage out (member's/beneficiaries) pension assets, mutual 
funds have a fiduciary duty to vote proxies in the best interests of 
their investors.  The SEC's proposed rule would give investors the 
information they need to ensure that their mutual funds take this 
fiduciary responsibility seriously.  But unlike our other investment 
managers - which are required under ERISA to tell us how they vote - 
mutual funds have until not shielded their proxy voting from investor 
and regulatory scrutiny.
 
    I commend the Commission for proposing a rule that will end this 
double standard - a double standard that has allowed mutual fund to 
turn a blind eye to the kinds of corporate governance failures that 
have cost our (members/beneficiaries) dearly at Enron, Tyco and WorldCom 
among others.  Mutual funds own roughly 20 percent of U.S. corporate 
equity, so their proxy-voting power can be instrumental in protecting 
our (beneficiaries'/members') retirement savings from the consequences 
of weak corporate governance.  The Commission's proposed rule would 
give investors the information they need to ensure that their mutual 
funds take this fiduciary responsibility seriously.
 
    I thank you for the opportunity to comment on this proposal on 
behalf of Teamsters Union No. 142 Pension Trust Fund.
 
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Jay R. Smith
Fund Manager
Teamsters Union No. 142
Pension and Welfare Funds