| 15 July 2009

Voters again rejected a measure brought to shareholders at the annual meeting which would have forced as many as 13 funds to pull thier investment dollars out of companies suchs as PetroChina which do business in the Darfur region of Sudan. Fidelity has consistently said in company statements that its investments in the region are well within U.S. laws.

The matter was brought to a vote by Investors Against Genocide. The vote required a majority and the highest number of votes received on any fund was 25 percent. This is below the mark of 31 percent received at a vote one year ago. Two weeks ago Vanguard shareholders rejected a similar measure.

In March, TIAA-CREF announced it would divest from companies in Sudan that "fail to take meaningful steps to respect human rights within a reasonable time." TIAA-CREF has over $360 billion in assets under management.