COMMENTS:
These plans are governed by heavy Federal regulations. An Institutional Investor is classified as:

"Entity with large amounts to invest, such as investment companies, mutual funds, brokerages, insurance companies, pension funds, investment banks and endowment funds. Institutional investors are covered by fewer protective regulations because it is assumed that they are more knowledgeable and better able to protect themselves. They account for a majority of overall volume."

For example, an entire pension fund of a municipality might be heavily invested in foreign stocks and depending on the volume, may actually own, for what ever period of time, a significan stake in a foreign entity. A good example is from this article:


American pension and mutual fund money is being invested in the Chinese coal industry, which is lucrative but has a poor record for pollution and worker safety.

Look no further than China Shenhua Energy Co., the Beijing giant that produces about 170 million tons of coal a year from 21 mines and builds power plants. While about 80 percent of the company's stock is owned by Shenhua Group in Beijing, the rest of its shareholders reads like a who's who of U.S. investors: Fidelity Investments, OppenheimerFunds, Merrill Lynch, even the Teachers Retirement System of Texas.