The 2022 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit agenda is now live. Join us virtually on April 5 - 8, 2022 to learn how we can invest for an equitable, low-carbon, regenerative economy. Register and/or become a summit sponsor here

In this week’s news, we share UVIMCO Investor Responsibility Framework that outlines the steps the organization is taking to build on its commitment to investing Virginia University funds sustainably, and the newly released IPCC special report on climate change impacts.

Two Years After Sustainable Investing Act, IEN Study Shows the U of I System Flagship Sustainable Investment Returned 47% on Annualized Basis, Outperforming Benchmarks.

CHAMPAIGN, IL – MARCH 2, 2022 – U.S. college campuses are at the forefront of a major investing sea change, and the University of Illinois (U of I) System is a leader in exemplifying how sustainable endowment investments can outperform traditional ones, according to a new study by the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN). The study details how two years after establishing a program to incorporate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decisions, an initial allocation of $160 million has grown to $252 million, returning 47% on an annualized basis and outperforming its benchmark (Russell 3000) by 1.2%. 

In 2020, U of I System President Tim Killeen announced the Empowering Excellence: Financial Stewardship through Responsible Investing program. The program was formed based on the U of I System’s Guiding Principles and the Illinois Sustainable Investing Act after engaging with students, faculty, alumni and other key stakeholders such as IEN. 

“The University of Illinois System is a model colleges and universities can consider as pressure from students, faculty and alumni mounts to clean up endowment portfolios,” said Georges Dyer, executive director of the Intentional Endowments Network. “Not only is it the right thing to do for people and the planet, but the U of I System shows that it makes good financial sense as well. It’s my hope that other institutions follow Illinois’ lead and begin to create sustainable value for their endowments and future generations.”  

The University of Illinois System’s program includes six core initiatives across asset classes:

seeding an ESG Insights strategy managed by BlackRock, active ownership, sustainable farming practices, private market impact funds, industry advocacy and student engagement. The program also builds on the U of I System’s long-standing commitment to increase allocations to diverse-owned and -led investment management firms. The new IEN report takes a closer look at each of the core initiatives, concluding that the program “provides a compelling approach for endowment leadership on mission aligned investing.”

“Our process has shown that there are opportunities to move toward mission-aligned investing across the portfolio in ways that protect and enhance financial returns,” said Geri Melchiorre, senior director of investments for the University of Illinois System. “We are pleased to share our progress to date in this new report from IEN as we continue to engage with our students and the broader community on these topics.”

The U of I System’s process provides another example of the many ways endowments can follow the steps laid out in IEN’s Intentionally Designed Endowment Roadmap to educate and learn, build consensus, develop policies, implement those policies and communicate to stakeholders. The system’s process also provides one model of how endowments can design sustainable investing strategies to protect capital, enhance returns, and contribute to a more healthy, just and sustainable economy.

IEN’s new publication comes on the heels of two other annual reports from endowments on their sustainable-investing progress. Arizona State University published its inaugural Sustainable, Responsible, and Impact Investing Report, highlighting ASU’s commitment to a net-zero portfolio, integrating justice, diversity, equity and inclusion (JEDI) considerations into the investment process, and progress on shareholder engagement on ESG issues. Separately, Harvard Management Company released its second annual Climate Report, providing updates on its progress toward meeting a net-zero portfolio goal by 2050.  

“No two endowments will approach their sustainable investing journey in exactly the same way,” added IEN’s Dyer. “The U of I System’s program shows how this can be done working through its investment managers by seeding the BlackRock strategy and leveraging unique attributes of its asset pool by advancing sustainable farmland practices. Sharing the journey so far is a valuable contribution to IEN’s peer-learning network.” 

ABOUT

The Intentional Endowments Network is a peer-learning network of colleges, universities and other mission-driven institutional investors working together to achieve their risk and return objectives through investment actions that create a thriving, sustainable economy. IEN has more than 165 network members including endowments, asset managers, investment consultants, nonprofit partners and individuals. www.intentionalendowments.org 

The University of Illinois System is a world leader in research and discovery, and the largest educational institution in the state with more than 94,000 students, about 26,000 full-time equivalent faculty and staff, and universities in Urbana-Champaign, Chicago and Springfield. The U of I System awards more than 24,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees annually.

CONTACT:   Alex Frank, (703) 276-3264 and [email protected].

We’re excited to share the newly released paper on Net Zero Investing & Conversations on Climate Justice authored by members of IEN Net Zero Endowment Initiative. The paper explores climate justice and provides practical methods to implementing climate justice in your respective institutions. 

In this week’s news we’d like to remind you to register for the 2022 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit taking place virtually April 5 - 8, 2022. Register here and/or become a summit sponsor here

The U of I System investment program has $4.27 billion in assets under management (AUM) in its operating and endowment pools. The endowment includes legacy gifts that were bequest directly to the University, as well as a portion of the operating cash and other funds. It is separate from the University of Illinois Foundation.

The investment program launched the Empowering Excellence: Financial Stewardship through Responsible Investing initiative in 2020, which is guided by the U of I System’s Guiding Principles and the Illinois Sustainable Investing Act. Six sub-components form the initiative: seeding an ESG Insights strategy managed by BlackRock, active ownership, sustainable farming practices, private market impact funds, industry advocacy, and student engagement.

While there are many other sustainability initiatives happening within the U of I System and its three campuses, this case study focuses on it's investment program.

Download Full Report

Acknowledgements

WE ARE GRATEFUL FOR THE CONTRIBUTIONS TO RESEARCHING,
WRITING, AND REVIEWING THIS CASE STUDY FROM:

• Georges Dyer, Intentional Endowments Network
• Haley Obermeier, Intentional Endowments Network
• Siobhan Pender, Intentional Endowments Network
• Geri Melchiorre, University of Illinois System
• Hannah Leischner, University of Illinois System

We are thrilled to announce registration is now open for the 2022 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit! Join us virtually on April 5 - 8, 2022 at the premier gathering of higher education leaders committed to addressing inequality and the climate crisis. Register here and/or become a summit sponsor here

In this week’s news, we invite you to celebrate Black History Month with us by briefly sharing, any of your work that supports the BIPOC communities, advance anti-racist activities, and address inequality and injustice. We will highlight and amplify your efforts or initiatives in our next issue and social channels. Share your initiative here

Have a

We’re excited to inform you that registrations for the 2022 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit, the premier gathering of higher education leaders committed to addressing inequality and climate crisis taking place virtually on April 5 - 8, 2022 will be opening soon! Stay tuned for more information, and learn about our sponsorship opportunities and/or become a sponsor today!

In this week's news, we continue to celebrate Black History Month with distinct black voices within the finance world that are working to empower and change the narrative for minorities and Black communities and share IEN’s Racial Equity Primer to help endowments start conversations and action on racial equity Investing

We invite you to help Mercer Investment assess the uncertainty around major themes like inflation, low returns, environment and climate risk management by taking this brief survey. Participants of the survey will receive a copy of the survey findings by April.

In this week’s news, we recognize people of color contribution and achievements in the sustainable investing space in observance of Black History Month and encourage you to develop investment strategies that support the BIPOC community. 

We’re elated to announce IEN’s 2022 Corporate Engagement Competition participating teams. Students from 12 universities across the U.S. and Canada have entered a head-to-head contest to showcase their skills in sustainable investing and shareholder advocacy. These teams will start this month and will meet in the finals in April. 

In this week’s news, the UN-backed Net Zero Asset Owners Alliance has released the second edition of its Target Setting Protocol, outlining the Alliance’s ambitions toward 2030. While Canada has announced a Call for Concepts for the Black-led Philanthropic Endowment Fund that will focus on supporting charities and organizations that are Black-led and serve young people.

12 University Teams to Compete for Top Honors in Sustainable Investing, ESG Shareholder Advocacy Competition

Undergraduate and graduate students from Arizona State University, Bard College, Central Washington University, New York University: Stern School of Business, Presidio Graduate School, Ryerson University, University of California Berkeley: Haas School of Business, University of California Los Angeles: Anderson School of Management, University of Chicago: Booth School of Business, University of Minnesota, Virginia Wesleyan University, and Yale University to compete on climate change, racial justice, and other top environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

BOSTON, MA—JAN. 25, 2022—Students teams from 12 universities across the U.S. and Canada have entered a head-to-head contest in the Intentional Endowments Network‘s (IEN) Student Corporate Engagement Competition. Teams of three to five undergraduate and graduate students will showcase their skills in sustainable investing and shareholder advocacy. These teams start today and will meet in the finals at the end of April.

“We are very excited to build off of last year’s winning proposal and apply the lessons we have learned from recent shareholder engagements through our student organization,” said Nico McCrossan, a member of the Arizona State University team, which took home top honors in last year’s competition. 

IEN’s Student Corporate Engagement Competition, sponsored by Federated Hermes and TIAA, is a first-of-its-kind student investment competition in which students pitch an investment in a publicly traded company and include in that recommendation a shareholder engagement strategy focused on addressing inequality and the climate crisis — systemic risks that threaten a healthy society, and in turn, healthy portfolio returns. Along the way to the final judging taking place the week of April 25, the students will receive sustainable investing and shareholder advocacy coaching and training from members of IEN and As You Sow, an in-kind sponsor and educational partner.

“The student competition has been growing since inception three years ago,” said Georges Dyer, executive director of IEN. “These 50 students will show us how they plan to shift corporate practices through smart investing and direct advocacy to create a new economy, suited to address the challenges of the 21st century.”

The students competing are the future leaders of the emerging regenerative economy based on justice and sustainability,” said Andrew Behar, CEO of As You Sow. “The old extractive economy is winding down; the ideas of Milton Freidman have led to climate change, ocean ecosystem destruction, and the shredding of civil society. This competition will showcase new stakeholder capitalism concepts that change the fundamental purpose of business.” 

2021 was a groundbreaking year for shareholder advocacy. Why? Because shareholders stood shoulder-to-shoulder breaking every record for proxy votes, resulting in shifts in corporate governance, policies, and practices. Examples include the election of new board members at Exxon, Dupont committing to reduce plastic pollution, and getting Blackrock to perform a racial justice audit. 

"University curriculums, for the most part, do not teach students about the power investors have to hold corporations accountable through shareholder advocacy," said Nicole Torrico, program director at IEN. "It is essential that the next generation of sustainable investors understand how to take concrete action to address social inequity and the interrelated climate crisis through all aspects of their investment portfolios."

Over the next three months, these student teams will receive a crash course by experts in the field from NGOs, socially responsible Investing firms, and legal experts. Their research, presentations, resolutions, and no-action defenses will be judged by leaders in the field to establish winners in both the undergraduate and graduate division.

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The Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) is a peer learning network of colleges, universities, and other mission-driven institutional investors working together to achieve their risk and return objectives through investment actions that create a thriving, sustainable economy. IEN has more than 200 network members including endowments, asset managers, investment consultants, nonprofit partners, and individuals.

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As You Sow is a nonprofit organization that promotes environmental and social corporate responsibility through shareholder advocacy, coalition building, and innovative legal strategies. Click here to see As You Sow’s shareholder resolution tracker.

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MEDIA CONTACT: Alex Frank, (703) 276-3264, [email protected]

12 University Teams to Compete for Top Honors in Sustainable Investing, ESG Shareholder Advocacy Competition

Undergraduate and graduate students from Arizona State University, Bard College, Central Washington University, New York University: Stern School of Business, Presidio Graduate School, Ryerson University, University of California Berkeley: Haas School of Business, University of California Los Angeles: Anderson School of Management, University of Chicago: Booth School of Business, University of Minnesota, Virginia Wesleyan University, and Yale University to compete on climate change, racial justice, and other top environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues.

Rethinking the Endowment: Faculty Seek to Shift Purdue's Endowment toward Renewable Energy| The Exponent, March 28, 2022

Harvard Doubles Investment in Climate Strategies | Fundfire February 7, 2022

Want to Invest In Asset Managers Owned and Led By Women and Minorities? Here’s How | Forbes, January 12, 2022

Batten Honors College Scholars Take First Place in IEN National Competition | Virginia Wesleyan University, May 2, 2022  

Students Show Engagement Chops to Win Competition | Pension and Investment, May 23, 2022

University of Illinois Finds Diversification, ESG Progress in Farmland | Fundfire, June 21, 2023

Most US Investors Still Have ESG-Performance Fears: Survey | Fundfire, July 13, 2023

Divested: The Campus Movement to Shun Fossil Fuels | AAC&U, Summer 2022

Student-Run Endowments, Explained | NACUBO, September 8, 2022

Not-for-Profit, but for Sustainability (report) | Mercer, September 25, 2022

Not-for-Profit, but for Sustainability (podcast) | Mercer 

The GreenFin Interview: NAACP’s CEO on ESG and Equity’s 'Third Act' | GreenBiz, September 28, 2022

No Sustainability Without Justice Anthology Vol 3 | AASHE, September 22, 2022

Foundations Up Allocations to Women- and Minority-Owned Managers | Fundfire, December 16, 2022

See previous coverage (2015-2021) in our Press Archives

We are excited to welcome Hanako Boulangeat as IEN new Program Director - Sustainable investing, Climate Justice & DEI and Natasha Keidl, IEN sustainability Winter Intern. Learn more about Hanako and Natasha here.

In this week’s news we’d like to thank all those that participated in this week’s webinar on the The DOL’s New Proposed Rules and invite you to save the dates for the 2022 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit, the premier annual gathering of higher education leaders committed to addressing inequality and the climate crisis taking place virtually on April 5-8, 2022. Learn more and become a sponsor here 

We’re excited to announce that our virtual 2022 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit will be on April 5-8, 2022. Stay tuned for more details including registrations, agenda and sponsorship opportunities. 

It's a bittersweet end of the year for us at IEN as Kaede Kawauchi, IEN’s Director of Strategic Initiative is transitioning to start a new role at Ceres in January (please keep in touch!). In conjunction, we’re actively recruiting a Sustainable Investing Program Manager, with a focus on Climate Justice & DEI. Please review and circulate the job description here.

On another note, this will be our last news round up of the year as the IEN office will be closed from December 24, 2021 through January 2, 2022, and will reopen on Monday, January 3, 2022 from the holiday break. We wish you all the best going into 2022!  

Have an amazing New Year!

We’d like to thank all those who supported us on Giving Tuesday. IEN relies on the generosity of donors like you to forward our mission of getting and supporting endowments to mobilize their capital for systemic change. We are truly grateful for your support. 

In this week’s news, we’re excited to inform you that our final Climate Action Pursuit Milestone starts next week (Dec 9th -10th). The December milestone will focus on celebrating this year’s climate action progress and look to highlight key achievements from this community. Make sure to take a look at the live agenda and start bookmarking your sessions of choice.

In addition, the 2021 IEN Member Survey deadline has been extended to December 15, 2021. Members are encouraged to take the survey to help us set the network’s upcoming year priorities.

US Department of Labor’s Proposed Rule Will Remove Barriers Making It Easier to Select Investments that Consider Climate Change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors 

The Next College Sustainable Investment Target: Faculty Retirement Plans

US Department of Labor’s Proposed Rule Will Remove Barriers Making It Easier to Select Investments that Consider Climate Change and other environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – December 2, 2021 –  With the recent proposed rule from the US Department of Labor making it easier for employees to invest in retirement funds that consider climate change and other social factors, the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) is calling on America’s institutions of higher education to start offering ESG integrated retirement plan options and has updated its Retirement Guide to better assist Plan Sponsors in this endeavor. 

Colleges and universities in the U.S. are a hotbed of climate initiatives and the fossil-fuel divestment movement, but very few schools offer sustainable retirement plans allowing their employees to avoid investing in funds that are not explicitly considering the risks of climate change or addressing other environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment issues, such as racial and gender equality and for-profit prisons, according to IEN.  The stakes here are high, with more than $1 trillion in 403(b) assets in higher education retirement funds that are potentially investing in ways that run counter to the mission of their institutions. 

“Endowments are recognizing the risks and opportunities associated with issues like climate change and racial equity and are increasingly taking action to adjust their investment strategies accordingly -- but most retirement investments are not offering options that do this,” said Georges Dyer, executive director of the Intentional Endowments Network. “IEN's Sustainable Retirements Initiative and this Guide assists colleges, universities, and other nonprofits in adding strong sustainable investment options that will lead to better long-term risk-adjusted returns for their faculty and staff. Now is the time for universities to begin adding these funds as we expect the floodgates to open once the DOL rule is finalized.”

The Guide now has a section designed to address fiduciary concerns that have arisen in the consideration of adding these types of funds in retirement plans, commissioned in partnership with Ceres.  “All investors should be evaluating risk from climate change and other ESG factors in making their investment decisions. However, these concerns are particularly relevant to retirement savers,” said Eric Pitt, climate finance consultant for Ceres. 

“Unless our society makes significant changes, the financial impacts of climate change will only increase over time, which creates the imperative to invest retirement savings in a way that limits exposure to avoidable climate risks. We are optimistic that the rules governing these plans are changing to better reflect these realities, and we applaud the many forward-thinking investors who are raising their voices in support. The fiduciary section of this guide was written to show how even now, plan sponsors can add climate-aligned and ESG funds to their plans in keeping with the letter and spirit of relevant regulations - and in so doing, can help to protect retirement assets for the long-term,” Pitt stated.

Representing over $1 trillion in 403(b) assets, retirement plan options for faculty and employees of colleges and universities are deeply invested in companies and investment products that run counter to the missions and goals of faculty, students, and institutions themselves. According to the Plan Sponsor Council of America, “fewer than 3 percent of plan sponsor respondents included (an ESG) option on their plan investment menu.” As a result, responsible investment funds (ESG) make up less than 1 percent of the funds in a typical retirement program for colleges and universities. 

Further, in a 2019 study done by Mirova found that funds tracking 500 of the largest publicly traded companies in the US (S&P Index) would warm the planet by 4.3 degrees Centigrade by 2050.  This is nearly 3 degrees higher than what the Paris Agreement called for in order to avoid the greatest impact of climate change on the planet.

Many colleges and universities have made commitments for their endowments to reach “net zero” emissions from the underlying assets, and/or pursue fossil fuel free strategies, including high-profile institutions such as Harvard University, Loyola University-Chicago, Dartmouth, Brown University, Cornell University, Boston University and the University of Massachusetts.  Yet many of these same institutions fall short when it comes to offering retirement plans for their faculty and staff that align with their core mission and the transition to a low-carbon economy. 

“College endowments have taken positive actions on investment issues relating to climate, diversity and inclusion, and racial equity, but higher education retirement plans have been slower to follow the same path,” stated Michael Rhim, a Principal at PRM Consulting and author of the Guide. “We anticipated the Biden administration and DOL would make it easier for employees to invest in these funds and the expanded Guide now also provides faculty, staff and students with information to determine what is in their retirement plan and how to advocate for ESG funds to be included in them.” 

The IEN Guide, which was developed with the support and expertise of Federated Hermes, Gitterman Wealth Management, Natixis and Schroders can be downloaded here. 

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ABOUT IEN

The Intentional Endowments Network is a peer learning network of colleges, universities, and other mission-driven institutional investors working together to achieve their risk and return objectives through investment actions that create a thriving, sustainable economy. IEN has more than 165 network members including endowments, asset managers, investment consultants, nonprofit partners, and individuals. www.intentionalendowments.org

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CONTACT:   Tony Calandro 314 420 2289

Giving Tuesday is Here! 

#ImpactGiving

We are participating in the global generosity day, #GivingTuesday, for the first time to raise $5000 that will help us get more endowments investing their money for climate and social justice.

 We believe that higher education institutions are influential actors with the power to drive systemic change. You can help us get endowed institutions to mobilize their capital for an equitable, low carbon and regenerative economy by funding our operational needs. Are you with us?

Endowments have a unique opportunity where doing the right thing for the climate – reducing their exposure to stranded carbon asset risk, and investing solutions – is also the smart thing for their investment portfolios.

– Bob Litterman, Chair, Risk Committee Kepos Capital LP

Network Impact   

Over the past few years, IEN has become a robust and active network of higher education leaders, nonprofit partners, financial industry practitioners, and other key stakeholders, working together to find the most strategic and effective ways to approach endowment investing in the context of 21st century sustainability challenges. We moved from 

• 77 members in 2015 to 192 members in 2020 
• 20 publications in 2-15 to 92 resources in 2020                                                                                                                               
• 14 events in 2015 to 55 join convenings in 2020   

So far ...

• We've coordinated 7 Working Groups and initiatives focused on Shareholder Engagements, DEIJ, Net Zero Initiative, Sustainable Retirement and Next Generation of Sustainable Investors (SIILK) 
• 5 foundations and 31 companies provided core funding to support sustainable investing initiatives in 2020 and many more have divested their investment from fossil fuel and committed to Net Zero portfolios in the past few months
• As of April 2021, the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative triple in size - now, over $32 trillion (36% of the global total) are managed by firms committed to the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 or sooner.  

Learn more about our network impact

We want to get more endowments investing for systemic change and need your support to achieve that goal. Help us meet our goal by donating Today! 

Supporters Corner

Thank you for making a difference. Feel free to download and share any of the following posters on social media with a your #ImpactGiving story. 

We’re back from our short break with a special COP 26 edition. This week’s news is partly dedicated to news coming from Glasgow, including initiatives, pledges, and opinion pieces on the promises from world leaders and endowments news.  

We’d also like to thank our incredible fall interns for their insights, diligent work, and contributions throughout their time with us and welcome you to read their work on our blog here.   

Additionally, we invite you to take our quick 2021 Membership Survey to help us assess and improve our collaborative work. All respondents have the chance to enter a raffle for a free ticket to the 2022 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit and a $50 gift card to Frugal Bookstore, a small, independent community bookstore in Boston .

We’re excited to inform you that we’ve partnered with ValueAdvisor, a non-profit platform that offers investors the opportunity to search for experienced values-based investment advisors. IEN members can now use this unique code (IEN_CRANE) for your free IEN subscription to ValuesAdvisor here. 

In this week’s news, we’d like to invite you to register for an upcoming discussion on why human rights should be  an essential component of your sustainable investing strategy.

On another note, our Weekly News Round Up will take a short break for the next two weeks as Gwladys will be on a well deserved vacation during that time. We'll be back to our regular news round-up on Friday Nov. 12, 2021.