When writing to funds...

rforno

... what should be a target expectation for a response, or at least an acknowledgment?

I sent a brief, polite e-mail enquiry to a fund I own over a week ago asking if it would be issuing any statement about its recent purchase of WFC as its new #1 position given the fund's philosophy of ESG investing -- in particular, the "G" part of that in light of the WFC scandal.

Haven't heard boo back from them yet, not even saying we'll be in touch, thanks for your note, we're looking into it, we're running something past our lawyers now ... nothing.

Just wondering - is that normal practice?

dryflower

I don't think it is very polite, or very good business.

AndyJ

I take it it's Parnassus you mean? I'd call them. It's been a while, but I used to connect easily with a real person there.

Hasn't PRBLX made a habit of WFC's being about the only bank they'd own? Can't remember what that decision was based on - may have been covered in a quarterly update, at one time anyway.

Didn't the big news take a lot of people by surprise? May have been a case of really, really bad timing, the opposite of serendipity, whatever that is.

rforno

Yes, I'm referring to PRBLX. I sent an email to their shareholder@ address but never heard back. Maybe a phone call is in order next.

I think WFC was picked up in the last quarter - they talked about it in their last commentary note in August. I know they've eyed it for a long time, though.

VintageFreak

I think your expectations are too high. Very few managers will talk directly to shareholders. Not sure about Parnassus, but a fund company of large size would be so corrupted by lawyers, managers would be precluded with answering any question about their investment, including even offering a simple "we are considering all our options".

The bummer for me is you telling me Parnassus owns it. Now I have a decision to make on my Parnassus holding

rforno

Oh I wasn't asking to hear from the fund managers -- nor would I expect to or necessarily want to! I simply asked if there would be any statement about the WFC position given the news. ... something from their PR team probably would've been sufficient. Frankly I'm somewhat dismayed they didn't have a boilerplate statement ready to go --- but heck, I'm more peeved they just ignored the enquiry sent to the 'shareholder' address they posted on their website.

rforno

This just received from Parnassus as I clicked to make that last post, so disregard some of what I've been saying here. Maybe Parnassus reads MFO?

Please accept out apologies for the late response. Parnassus does own a substantial amount of stock. We never make buy and sell decisions rashly. Wells Fargo does have a positive ESG profile but we are obviously concerned with the recent news. We are talking with their executive leaders and will be able to share the Parnassus assessment shortly.

We will keep your email pended until more information is received from senior management.

Best,
Rebecca
Shareholder Services

AndyJ

It'll be interesting to see what they do with it now.

FWIW, Parnassus has a feature for easy lookup of historical holdings. On just a very quick check, looks like Wells first appears this year in May. Last time before that they held it looks like late 2010-2011.

VintageFreak

Good. I just hope Parnassus does not toe the M* line. David Winters fought Buffett over some company, I forget and if I remember correctly, eliminated BRK from his portfolio when he didn't get anywhere. Guess who lost? It will take some courage.

BobC

I'd say that the response you received was quite good, actually. The fact that someone took time to respond to your specific question is not something most other fund companies would ever consider. It speaks well of Parnassus.