HR Handbook Here is a guide to help you engage your Human Resources representative about divesting gun companies from your employee retirement plans. THREE STEPS TO DIVESTING Use these pages as a guide for how to start the conversation with your HR department. HR LETTER Use this letter to send to your HR department to break the ice. WHO RUNS YOUR 401K Background about the different players who choose and manage the investments in your employee retirement plan.
How to Divest Here are some steps you can take to find out where you stand and how to help decision-makers at your company understand the importance of giving employees the freedom to choose a gun-free 401k. STEP ONE YOUR INVESTMENT FIRM What have they done with your money? Ultimately, only the manager of a particular mutual fund knows day-to-day what stocks are in that fund. But the more you can learn about the investment firm your company has selected to manage your 401k plan, the more you can share with HR. First check the Unload Your 401k database. If our database shows that your investment firm has a record of investing in gun companies, it means that at least some of its mutual funds have invested in firearms. In many cases, specific mutual funds that have invested in guns will be listed on the screen. Check your 401k statement to see if you own shares in any of these funds. If our database doesn't show any record that your investment firm owned shares in gun companies as of our last data chaeck, that's encouraging but not the end of the story. A mutual fund's stock holdings can change frequently. Data can be missed or out of date. The best way to find out what your mutual funds hold is to go to the horse's mouth: the investment firm that manages your employer's 401k plan. That means getting in touch with a financial advisor at the investment firm.
How to Divest STEP TWO YOUR FINANCIAL ADVISOR An important link to your investment firm Do you already have a financial advisor you like? Call or email that person directly! If you don't have a specific contact at the investment firm, or would simply like a second opinion, that's OK. Just call the number on your 401k statement; it's a great place to start. Once you have a call or meeting set up with an advisor be ready to kick things off with a good question. EXAMPLES OF QUESTIONS TO ASK I see from the website, Unload Your 401k, that my current fund has invested in gun companies. Are there other funds that offer similar benefits, without investing in guns? I see from the website, Unload Your 401k, that your firm has a record of investing in gun companies. I want to make sure that none of my mutual funds do that. Can you help? I am reviewing my portfolio to confirm that it does not contain any mutual funds that invest in gun companies. Could you take a look at my holdings and help me make sure?
How to Divest STEP THREE YOUR HUMAN RESOURCES TEAM In a position to demand change Making sure employees don t have to invest in companies they consider immoral should be a priority for HR departments around the country. But they have a lot on their plate. Here are some ways you can make their job easier and help achieve your goals. First, be ready to summarize your research from UnloadYour401k.com and your financial advisor. According to the database, has your own mutual fund already invested in firearms? Are you concerned that it might, and your financial advisor wasn t sure? Does the investment firm have a record of such investments that raise good questions? Next start a conversation about your choices: Does our investment firm already have a social fund? Many investment firms already have social funds that do not invest in gun companies. Ask them to add it to your choice of funds. Yes it might actually be that simple. Can we take the guns out of our current investment? Several investment firms are giving companies the ability to sweep all gun companies out of their current funds. Ask if your investment firm is already doing this, or if they d be willing to customize something for our company. Can we switch investment firms if they re unwilling to give us options? If your investment firm has neither of the above, there are many firms who would be willing to help. It s your money. How you invest in your future should be up to you. On the next page you ll find a sample letter that you and your fellow employees can sign and bring to your HR Department to help with the discussion.
To My Human Resources Department: I recently found out that many 401k plans are investing in gun companies, and I want to reach out to see if that is the case with ours. A number of my fellow employees and I are concerned that our retirement funds may be supporting an industry we consider immoral. We would love if you could help us by looking into this. After speaking with a financial advisor at our company s investment firm, we would like to explore some gun-free options: ADD A SOCIAL FUND OPTION TO OUR COMPANY'S PLAN One approach is to look into socially conscious funds offered by our investment firm. Like many firms, they may already have mutual fund options that specifically do not invest in gun companies. It would be a simple solution for those who are glad to participate in our company s 401k plans, but would prefer to have the confidence of adding a zero gun mutual fund option. REMOVE FUNDS INVESTED IN GUN COMPANIES FROM OUR CURRENT RETIREMENT PLANS Another approach would be to ask our investment firm to trim gun companies from existing funds that are otherwise managed in a socially responsible way. Many firms have been open to accommodating such requests; let s see if ours can do the same. LOOK INTO CHANGING INVESTMENT FIRMS Finally, we could consider switching to another investment firm for the company. Obviously, this isn t the easiest change, but it takes away the risk of employees either unknowingly supporting gun companies through our company s 401k plan, or sacrificing the benefits of participation for moral reasons. This all may come as a shock to you, as it was a shock to us. I am happy to work with you to find a solution that increases transparency, improves employee understanding of our investment firm s offerings in general, and makes sure that no one is unknowingly investing their hard-earned money in gun companies. Sincerely, (Print Name) (Signature)
Who Runs Your 401k? Your 401k is different from a traditional pension in a lot of ways. But the biggest difference is that the assets in your account are yours. In fact, once you leave your company, you ll have the option to roll over your account to increase your choices for how you invest your money. What about while you re still enrolled in your current company s 401k plan? Even though the assets are yours to use in retirement, there are three players besides you who affect how they re managed: 1. Your company s HR department, which picks the investment firm that all employees must use for their 401k; 2. The investment firm, usually a large company such as BlackRock, Fidelity or JP Morgan, which provides the mutual funds that employees at your company can choose from; and 3. Individual financial advisors, generally employed by the investment firm, who are there to provide information about which mutual funds to buy. These are the players who decide which specific mutual funds you can choose from for your 401k to make actual investments on your behalf. If a fund that you ve decided to include in your 401k owns gun stocks, it s almost certain that you do, too. Of these three players, your HR department has the most overall influence over your investing options. They can put pressure on the investment firm to address the concerns and priorities of employees like you. After all, they re giving that firm your business! Follow up with patience and persistence. This is your money, and you should invest it in ways that you are comfortable with.