The Impact of the SEC’s 2003 Mutual Fund Voting Disclosure Rule

I explore whether the SEC’s 2003 mutual fund voting disclosure rule has an impact on voting behaviors of mutual funds by comparing the association between mutual fund ownership and aggregate voting outcomes before and after the rules are adopted. By using management sponsored proposals and shareholder sponsored proposals in proxy seasons 2001 and 2006, I find no evidence that mutual funds’ voting support for management declined after the disclosure rule, as projected by advocates of the rule based on increased transparency. Rather the level of mutual funds’ voting support for management increase after the adoption of the rule.