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Informed by ABC News that She Owns Mutual Fund With Sudan Holdings, Palin Says She Will Divest
October 10, 2008 12:51 PM
Informed by ABC News that she holds an investment in a mutual fund that owns shares in companies that human rights organizations say help the government of Sudan, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin on Friday said through a spokesman that she will divest from that mutual fund.
According to financial disclosure forms Palin released last week (read them HERE), Palin owns up to $15,000 in Legg Mason International Equities, which the McCain-Palin campaign specified is the Legg Mason International Equity Fund (LGIEX).*
That Fund owns shares in two companies the Genocide Intervention Network labels "highest offenders" because, in that organization's judgment, they empower the government of Sudan at the expense of the country's marginalized populations.
With citizens of the world absorbed with dire economic news, it may seem secondary to consider what companies someone has invested in, rather than their current worth. But human rights activists monitoring the genocide in the Sudan insist there is nothing frivolous about trying to convince individuals from investing in companies that help the government of Sudan. In July, the International Criminal Court's Chief Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, asked the tribunal for an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on charges of genocide and war crimes in Darfur.
The McCain-Palin campaign said that Palin did not know of the holdings.
"It was recently brought to Gov. Palin’s attention that, despite what the Sudan divestment online database indicated, one of Gov. Palin’s mutual funds held less than 1% in companies doing business with Sudan," said McCain-Palin campaign spokesman Brian Rogers. "Gov. Palin will divest from this fund immediately, and is committed to doing everything she can to stop the genocide and atrocities in Darfur.
The Genocide Intervention Network issues a quarterly report, "the Sudan Company Report," which analyzes companies with Sudan-linked operations, and also has a mutual fund screening tool which determines whether mutual funds hold interests in any of those companies.
There is no information about the Legg Mason International Equity Fund in that database. But the information is available, and a further review of Legg Mason International Equity Fund's holdings through Bloomberg LP indicate that the Fund owns holdings in companies considered to be among the “highest offenders": ABB and Wartsila Oyj.
ABB, a Swiss company, is involved in Sudan's Merowe Dam project, a hydroelectric dam the construction of which has displaced thousands of families while largely providing power to government strongholds. Last year, because of related human rights abuses, the United Nations called on companies to cease operations on the dam.
Finnish company Wartsila Oyj has sold, maintained, and serviced power plants for use in oil projects in Sudan, which empower the government. As much as 90% of Sudan's export income is derived from oil, which benefits its military operations.
You can see the Legg Mason International Equity Fund's holdings in ABB Ltd HERE and in Wartsila Oyj HERE.
ABC News told the McCain-Palin campaign Wednesday that her mutual fund had investments in ABB and Wartsila Oyj. On Friday, the campaign told ABC News that Palin intended to divest.
A Democratic operative said today, "Less than four weeks before Election Day, we're still learning about Gov. Palin -- and apparently, she's still learning disturbing things about her own finances. The question before us now is: What more will we learn about Gov. Palin as the public and watchdogs continue taking a fine tooth comb through her record and past?"
But the Genocide Intervention Network applauded Palin's decision.
“The fight against the Darfur genocide must begin at home," said executive director Mark Hanis. "The Genocide Intervention Network and its partners have called on all presidential candidates to ensure that they do not have holdings in companies identified as 'highest offenders' in Sudan. We are pleased that Gov. Palin, and all of the major parties’ presidential candidates, have followed the lead of 27 states, 61 universities, and 20 cities in ensuring that U.S. investments do not support genocide in Sudan.”
Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., Barack Obama, D-Ill., and Joe Biden, D-Del., hold no such investments, according to the Genocide Intervention Network.
In May, after being questioned by the Associated Press, Cindy McCain sold off more than $2 million in mutual funds whose holdings include companies that do business in Sudan.
The Obamas did the same in 2007, selling about $180,000 in retirement savings because it was linked to an oil services company that does business in Sudan, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.
Palin, during the vice presidential debate, claimed that she had led the charge to divest Alaska's investments from the Sudan.
"When I and others in the legislature found out that we had some millions of dollars [of Permanent Fund investments] in Sudan, we called for divestment through legislation of those dollars," she said.
A further investigation by ABC News, however, indicated that while Palin later came to support the bill, her administration initially opposed the bill, and stated its opposition in a public hearing on the measure.
"The legislation is well-intended, and the desire to make a difference is noble, but mixing moral and political agendas at the expense of our citizens' financial security is not a good combination," testified Brian Andrews, Palin's deputy revenue commissioner, before a hearing on the divestment bill in February.
A Republican legislator recently heralded Palin as a supporter of the legislation, despite that earlier opposition.
- jpt
* LGIEX ticker added later for clarification.
October 10, 2008 | Permalink | Share | User Comments (138)
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Don't worry about what anyone says!Don't pay attention to the polls!Just get out and vote! Vote early! Don't wait until the last minute! VOTE! VOTE! VOTE!Do not become overconfident! It's not over until after NOVEMBER 4th! We must win this thing!The world is watching!
Obama/Biden 08-12!
Posted by: DEE | Oct 12, 2008 12:41:04 PM
I have become a staunch supporter of Obama/Biden in light of the current Republican rally insanity & pick of VP Palin, because those folks truly scare me.
But, Palin divested the mutual fund, end of story. I don't agree with her hatemongering politics, but she divested. Good for her.
Posted by: Lisa L. | Oct 11, 2008 10:01:16 AM
And I don't own mutual funds, I buy foreclosures with my money.
Posted by: Dr Perfect | Oct 11, 2008 6:57:40 AM
Palin is a criminal.
Palin Guilty of ethics violations.
Now, we find out she has stock in a company that supports genocide????
We need to not elect her and Alaska needs to impeach her!!!
And SHE was telling me to worry about Obama????
Posted by: Ron | Oct 11, 2008 12:00:00 AM
The once known as God's own country is turning into Satan's orther Devils owned property .This coutry is finished. This counntry is doomed
Posted by: msm is too bias!!!!!!!! Palin is the answer | Oct 10, 2008 10:34:24 PM
Oh My! Legg Mason and all of its investors support genocide! Oh My, what a news! The whole world is collapsing under our very eyes!
Posted by: tiger | Oct 10, 2008 10:30:47 PM
Sarah supports GENOCIDE but not abortion. How Christian
Posted by: Dr. Perfect | Oct 10, 2008 10:29:17 PM
According to the Center for Responsive Politics, deployed troops are putting their money where their mouth is: they've given four times as much money to Obama as McCain.
"Everyone I talk to wants change but on base you can't say certain things. At a bar or a party, everyone tells me they're voting for Obama," said Thomas Singleton, 27, a former military telecommunications specialist who was speaking to OffTheBus outside the National Museum of the Marine Corps. Perched on a hill in Quantico, the museum's stunning roof line can be seen for miles. Its design -- a 200-foot tilted mast atop a huge glass atrium -- was inspired by the famous Iwo Jima flag raising of World War II.
"My military friends are tired of being lied to," said Singleton. "They're told to deploy for six months, but it ends up being a year. And when they come home, they can't find a job. One of my friends is staying in the Army only because he can't find a civilian job."
Posted by: Carole K | Oct 10, 2008 10:27:40 PM
Other countries that do business with the Sudan include General Electric, Coke, Pepsi and many more household names. Most use forign distributors (French in many cases) to get around the US scantions.
How many mutual funds have holdings in companies that operate in sudan?
Posted by: smith | Oct 10, 2008 10:21:04 PM
What a worthless article. Most people who buy mutual funds do so with a financial advisor's advice, and on the basis of the fund's style (large-cap vs. small-cap, domestic vs. international vs. emerging markets, value vs. growth, etc.) and performance. Occasionally, if the fund holds recognizable companies, the advisor will make a mention of them as an example. But most people don't know what companies are held by the fund, as they can be quite numerous. But even if they knew the names, they'd have to invest tons of time to find out what those companies do. That doesn't even take into consideration the fact that the companies held by a mutual fund change over time.
So yeah, this is absolutely pointless.
Posted by: Jim | Oct 10, 2008 9:40:50 PM
the reak sarah palin doesn't seem to care about genocide.
Posted by: sk8boardgrind | Oct 10, 2008 9:29:43 PM
I'm more concerned about her abuse of power and her narrow world view - she needs to be sent back to Alaska to get some more OJT to fully develop her Tom Delay style persona.
Posted by: McGreen | Oct 10, 2008 8:57:45 PM
The real Sarah Palin is a self serving Sarah Palin, documented quite well by the Troopergate report.
Posted by: Deb | Oct 10, 2008 8:51:38 PM
I wonder why McCain would think it was such a great idea to ask Palin to be his VP when she had an ethics probe being conducted against her, she is not as qualified as any of the other people he could have asked such as Romney (who could be a great use with todays economic troubles). Was it to borrow Palins own words about Obama "Blind Ambition" that caused McCain to pick her?
Posted by: Mary | Oct 10, 2008 7:52:18 PM
And she is so worried about Obama and Ayers when she has her problems to deal with such as Troopergate and this investment in Sudan. And does Obama waste any of his time worried about her? LOL Like they say in the south "Be careful when digging ditches for someone or else you will fall in."
Posted by: Francheska | Oct 10, 2008 7:47:55 PM
ABC's next headline:" PALIN'S CHILD BUYS BUBBLES MADE WITH SLAVE LABOR!!"
Posted by: Eric Drexil Holland | Oct 10, 2008 7:46:51 PM
Ivy 5:09: Excellent joke!
Posted by: LongT | Oct 10, 2008 7:24:17 PM
Val 5:25 PM; Now that's funny! Good one!
Posted by: LongT | Oct 10, 2008 7:11:15 PM
This is a dangerous woman (Palin)and campaign..she is a small woman..and I don't consider him to be hero material..
If anything happens to Obama ..I wonder if there is liability for the behavior of Palin and McCain...such as when someone taunts someone to the point where they commit violent acts..they (Palin and McCain)should be held accountable for their actions.
this is Hitler mentality...
very dangerous.
I don't believe I have ever observed so much deceit and anger..being Christian takes on a whole new meaning doesn't it?
In regards to Cindy McCain..her observations are merely a way to rationalize whom she chose to marry and stand behind..How sad that these people have so much power...
Posted by: Micheli | Oct 10, 2008 7:09:35 PM
I'm now totally convinced that the media and in particular ABC is biased against Palin. I own so many mutual funds that I'm sure there's something that's politically incorrect somewhere.
Posted by: LongT | Oct 10, 2008 7:07:17 PM
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