Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — Rule 14a-8
Fidelity Select Portfolios
March 15, 2013
Scott C. Goebel, Esq.
Fidelity Investments
Legal Department
82 Devonshire Street V10E
Boston, MA 02109
Re: (File No. 811-03114) — Omission of Shareholder Proposals Pursuant to Rule 14a-8
Dear Mr. Goebel:
In a letter dated January 30, 2013, you advised the staff of the Division of Investment Management (“Division”) that Fidelity Select Portfolios (the “Trust”) planned to omit substantially similar shareholder proposals (“Proposal”) submitted to Fidelity Select Electronics Portfolio and Fidelity Select Natural Resources Portfolio (individually, the “Fund,” and collectively, the “Funds”), both series of the Trust, from proxy statements for both Funds relative to a shareholder meeting scheduled to be held on or about May 14, 2013.
The Proposal requests that the Board of Trustees of each Fund implement certain procedures to prevent the Fund from holding investments in companies that, in management’s judgment, substantially contribute to genocide or crimes against humanity. The Trust argues that the Proposal may be excluded from the proxy statement, as permitted by Rule 14a-8(f)(2) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), because the Funds are unable to confirm that the proponents (“Proponents”) continue to be shareholders of the Funds and have continuously held the requisite amount of Fund shares since submitting the Proposal, as required by Rule 14a-8(b)(1) under the Exchange Act, and because the Proponents have not responded to requests to provide additional holdings information.
On the basis of the information you provided, there appears to be a basis for your view that the Proposal may be excluded in reliance on Rule 14a-8(b)(1).
Attached is a description of the informal procedures the Division follows in responding to shareholder proposals. If you have any questions or comments concerning this matter, please feel free to contact me at (202) 551-6959.
Sincerely,
Edward P. Bartz
Staff Attorney cc: Bruce Seltzer
Lisa Guravitz and Frederick Shaw
Incoming Letter
The Incoming Letter is in Acrobat format.
http://www.sec.gov/divisions/investment/noaction/2013/fidelity-select-portfolios-031513-14a8.htm
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