TIAA-CREF Backs Proxy Disclosures

December 12, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF) has patted the US Securities and Exchange Commission on the back for forcing investment companies to disclose their proxy voting policies.

In a December 6 SEC letter, TIAA-CREF, the largest US pension system, said it supports the corporate governance initiative, but recommended some changes, according to a Dow Jones report.

Specifically, the pension system wants investment companies to be allowed to provide investors in many cases with a summary report showing how proxies were voted as a group, rather than having to disclose the details of each proxy vote cast, Dow Jones said.

“We applaud the SEC’s efforts to design a proposal to encourage all investment companies to carefully consider their proxy voting practices and to be more actively involved in the corporate governance of issuers held in their portfolio,” TIAA-CREF said in the letter, according to Dow Jones.

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