Tracking Fund Proxies

Mutual funds are big investors,which means they have a lot of cloutwhen it comes to voting on a company'smanagement slate and proxy issues,such as executive compensation andexpensing stock options. Until recently,however, how your mutual fund votedits proxies was a closely heldsecret. Now, in response to an SEC rulethat the fund industry actively opposed,you can find out how your fund votedits shares, usually by searching its Website using the key words "proxy voting."If you own individual stocks, thecompany will send you materials forproxy voting, either by mail or online.For help in deciding how to cast yourvote, go to www.shareholderaction.org.