Simon Fraser University
Endowment Value: CA$605 million (2021)
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public university with campuses located in Burnaby, Surrey, and Vancouver, British Columbia. SFU’s endowment is managed by the SFU Community Trust.
In 2014, SFU became the second Canadian university to become a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI). As a signatory, SFU has pledged to be an active shareholder by taking actions including but not limited to proxy voting, direct engagement, encouraging research on responsible investment, and reporting through UNPRI.
SFU’s Responsible Investment Committee (RIC) is responsible for reviewing ESG issues at SFU, including those raised by University community members. For example, SFU’s Board of Governors approved a recommendation initiated by the RIC to measure the carbon footprint of the public equity portion of its investment portfolio and to commit to reducing the carbon footprint of its investment portfolio by at least 30% by 2030. According to its 2018 report for AASHE STARS (a self-reporting framework for colleges and universities to measure their sustainability performance), SFU's sustainable investment holdings are balanced across global private equity clean technology funds, global sustainable equity funds as well as fossil fuel-free global and US equity managers.
In March 2020, SFU released a new five-year sustainability plan. The plan was developed with the intention of meeting multiple sustainability-related goals, including reducing the university’s investment portfolio’s carbon footprint by 45%. The SFU Sustainability Office is going to oversee the implementation of the five-year plan.
In June 2020, SFU joined fifteen other Canadian universities in signing a charter committing to increased efforts to address the climate crisis. Signatories of the charter pledge to adopt an SRI investing policy, regularly calculate the carbon footprint of their investment portfolios, publicly share progress and results in achieving sustainability goals, and evaluate fund managers based on their compliance with the guidelines set forth in the charter.
Simon Fraser University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
- ACUPCC: No
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
- Divestment Goal: Yes, divestment from fossil fuels by half
- INCR: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
- Principles for Responsible Investment: Yes
Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources: