Two mutual funds that I have shares in had very similar shareholder proposals in the proxy statements they've recently sent me.
For a Vanguard fund the proposal is:
A SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL TO "INSTITUTE TRANSPARENT PROCEDURES TO AVOID HOLDING INVESTMENTS IN COMPANIES THAT, IN MANAGEMENT'S JUDGMENT, SUBSTANTIALLY CONTRIBUTE TO GENOCIDE OR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, THE MOST EGREGIOUS VIOLATIONS OF HUMAN RIGHTS. SUCH PROCEDURES MAY INCLUDE TIME-LIMITED ENGAGEMENT WITH PROBLEM COMPANIES IF MANAGEMENT BELIEVES THAT THEIR BEHAVIOR CAN BE CHANGED."
For a Fidelity fund the proposal is:
FOR THE FUND, A SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL REQUESTING THAT THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES INSTITUTE PROCEDURES TO AVOID HOLDING INVESTMENTS IN COMPANIES THAT, IN MANAGEMENT'S JUDGMENT, SUBSTANTIALLY CONTRIBUTE TO GENOCIDE OR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY.
I figured some organization is sponsoring these shareholder proposals. It seems to be Investors Against Genocide. Here's their web site: https://www.investorsagainstgenocide.org/about/about-us/
And here's a place to sign up for their email list: https://oi.vresp.com/?fid=cc28044365 (which may be specific to Fidelity funds).
Both those huge fund companies advised shareholders to vote against the proposal. The proposal doesn't REQUIRE the boards of directors to do anything. About all it does is give those $250,000 a year fatcats PERMISSION to vote their conscience. If they have one. But they don't even want that. Not wanting permission to take a stand against genocide gets my award for gutless wonders of the 21st century.
The only argument against those proposals is that they might (slightly) reduce the funds' financial return or increase operating expenses because of time and effort debating ethics. I happen to think it's GOOD for people to debate ethics. Doing that makes you think about ethical issues, which makes you a better person.
Hospitals have ethics committees. I've never sent a question to one of those committees, but other doctors who have done that say the results are frustrating. Apparently the committee usually kicks things around for a while, thanks you for giving them an interesting knotty issue to discuss, but rarely gives you a hard answer to a question like "can we pull the plug?" The committee members probably became better people by discussing it. But these shareholder proposals aren’t about some knotty issue. They’re about genocide. The question should be "What can we do against it?" It shouldn't be a question of whether or not to stay silent.
I clicked the link to join Investors Against Genocide. (I'm a tad concerned because a few minutes later I still haven't gotten the email confirmation.)