SIILK Initiative Call Recap: A Conversation with the Mayaan Fund

Elana Steinbach and Shir Kahanov, provide their insight on the inception  of the Mayaan Fund -- a student-managed investment fund out of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (HUJI) -- including it's role in the HUJI community and venture capital ecosystem

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15 Reasons Why ESG Factors Affect Investment Risk & Return - News from PRI

This blog highlights Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI)'s press coverage underscoring investor’s fiduciary obligation to consider how ESG factors affect investment risk and return.

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Rethinking How We Invest With a Racial Equity Lens

This blog is part of a series stemming from the Racial Equity Investing Collaborative’s Leadership Summit, which was co-organized by six investor networks in May 2023: American Sustainable Business Network, Confluence Philanthropy, The ImPact, Impact Capital Managers, Intentional Endowments Network, and Toniic.

IEN 2023 Fall Forum

Join us at IEN's 2023 Fall Forum, a highly interactive program focused on peer-learning among endowments to advance sustainable and mission-aligned investment strategies that can reduce risk, enhance returns, and drive positive social and environmental outcomes.

Topics covered will include: building consensus and establishing the investment policy, implementing racial equity investing in the portfolio, and protecting higher education’s freedom to invest, with numerous opportunities for dialogue, networking, and action planning!

View the full agenda, and learn about sponsorship opportunities.

2024 Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit

The Summit, taking place February 11-13, 2024 in Long Beach, CA, is the premier annual gathering of higher education leaders committed to addressing inequity and the climate crisis. 

Help shape the 2024 Summit Conversations:

We want to hear from you! Please, tell us how we can best support your sustainable investing journey by recommending topics and contributors we should include in the program.

Register at out Early Bird rate:

Join us to connect and be inspired by conversation around the climate crisis across endowment investing, campus operations, academics, and research. Take advantage of our lowest rates by registering today

View last year Summit’s recording

We’re excited to share that Nicole Torrico has been appointed Managing Director of IEN!

Nicole has made a significant impact across our organization and the broader field, and her appointment is a testament to her expertise, leadership abilities, and continued contributions to IEN’s organizational success. 

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Thank you to our summer Intern, Chloe Nguyen!

Chloe Nguyen is a sophomore prospective Computer Science and History double major at Yale University. At Yale, Chloe is an associate editor and staff writer for The New Journal, recently awarded Best Student Magazine in the Country by the Society of Professional Journalists. 

IEN Members can access the following recent webinars through our member-only archive:

• [MEMBER ONLY] SIILK Initiative Call Q2 | July 19, 2023
• A Conversation on Reparations Finance in Honor of Juneteenth | June 28, 2023
• [MEMBER ONLY] Net Zero Endowments Initiative Call Q2 | June 22, 2023
• [MEMBER ONLY] JEDI Initiative Quarterly Call Q2 | June 13, 2023
• [MEMBER ONLY] Sustainable Retirements Initiative Call Q2 | June 8, 2023
• Protect Higher Education's Freedom to Consider Sustainability Factors in Portfolios | May 16, 2023

Upcoming Events

Please join us for our upcoming IEN events:

• Higher Education Climate Leadership Summit l February 11-13, 2024, Long Beach, CA
• 2023 Fall Forum | October 25, 2023, Virginia Wesleyan University, Virginia
• Investment Governance Initiative Q3 Call  | September 5, 2023 | 1 - 2:30 pm ET, virtual
• Net Zero Endowments Initiative Q3 Call | September 28, 2023, virtual

Other Events

• Emerging Managers Summit | Opal Group, September 11-12, 2023, Braselton, GA
  Get 15% off your registration by using IEN2315 discount code
• Economist Impact's 3rd Annual Sustainability Week: Countdown to COP28 |  October 2 - 5, 2023, Venues Houndsditch, London, UK
• Impact Summit America - Phenix Capital | October 18, 2023, New York City
• AASHE (Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education) Conference and Expo l October 29-31, 2023, Boston, MA

In June, IENpartnered with GreenBiz and led a panel at GreenFin, “Can Retirement Assets Deliver Impact?” Our panelists shared insights on the state of sustainable investing options in 403(b) plans, the impact of the DOL’s ESG rule on the defined benefit and defined contribution space, and the legal defense of the ESG rule. 

We extend our sincere thanks to Marina Severinovsky of Schroders, Sam Hodas of Nuveen, and Brad Campbell of Faegre Drinker for sharing their insights, and we invite you to read an article highlighting the panel and featuring  remarks from our ED, Georges Dyer, on the climate impact of retirement plan options.

IEN Members can also watch the recording of our most recent Initiative call, including remarks from Natixis on their recent survey of plan participants, and an analysis of ESG backlash at a state and federal level by government affairs firm the Vogel Group. 

Lead Sponsors

Supporting Sponsors

In our SIILK Initiative’s most recent call, the leaders of the student-led Mayaan Fund, out of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, presented on their fund’s genesis, mission, and investment strategy as a VC and impact-focused vehicle. 

We invite students and faculty involved in sustainable investing curriculum or student managed funds to join our LinkedIn group to connect on resources and best practices!

And now is the time for students interested in participating, and professionals interested in mentoring or sponsoring, to indicate interest in participating in the 2024 Student Corporate Engagement Challenge!

The Challenge asks student teams to 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.

Supporting sponsor

IEN’s Net Zero Endowment Initiative has continued to grow, welcoming Jouni Korhonen (Investment Committee Chair, Board of Trustees, at Lewis & Clark College) and Jonathan Chan (Account Manager, Capital Markets, at CDP) as the newest Net Zero Steering Committee members. 

Additionally, our most recent Net Zero InitiativeCall featured presentations from Elysabeth Alfano (CEO & Co-founder of VegTech), who presented on how to reduce portfolio carbon emissions without buying carbon credits,and from Liz Levy (Head of ESG & Portfolio Manager,Trillium Asset Management) , who provided insights onTrillium’s net zero journey.

We invite IEN Members to register for our next Net Zero Initiative Call on September 28th from 1:30-3:00pm ET. Learn more about IEN’s net zero endowments initiative, net zero commitments from endowments, and net zero resources here!

Lead sponsors

Supporting Sponsors

IEN’s JEDI Initiative has spent the past quarter prioritizing racial equity in the investment process and higher education, especially regarding reparations, systems-level change, and HBCU endowment growth. View highlights of four presentations on these topics at our last initiative call.

We also co-hosted the Racial Equity Investing Collaborative’s Leadership Summit this summer, where we pledged to advance racial equity investing practices alongside five other networks— and held a panel featuring Obie Mckenzie, Dianne Dillon-Ridgely, Dorien Nunez, and Enith Williams, who explored the role of reparations in racial equity. The event was capped off by two blogs on private capital’s role in reparations and rethinking how we invest with a racial equity lens.

We were thrilled to present a thought-provoking session dedicated to endowment growth and mission-aligned investing at Historically Black Colleges and Universities for the 2023 UNCF UNITE Summit, "Endowment Growth & Mission-Aligned Investing at HBCUs".

And IEN’s Director of JEDI, Paris Prince, was recently featured on Impact Alpha’s podcast alongside host Monique Aiken to talk about how impact investors are responding to legal attacks on affirmative action and racial wealth-building strategies. 

Lead Sponsors 

IEN’s Investment Governance Initiative continues to bring industry thought leaders together to share and advance best practices in sustainable investing. Our last quarterly call featured discussions on best practices in creating sustainable strategies through the integration of ESG factors in resource allocation decisions, thematic research, and field-building.

We invite IEN Members to register for our next Investment Governance Initiative  Call, taking place September 5th from 1 - 2:30pm ET. The call will feature remarks from Jon Lukomnik, Founder and Managing Partner of Sinclair Capital, with a focus on systems-level investing and the ways it can drive real-world impact. Learn more about IEN’s Investment Governance initiative and best practice resources here!

Our Shareholder Engagement Initiative continues to focus on highlighting and developing educational opportunities to support endowments in voting proxies in line with ESG mandates through the As You Vote proxy voting service.

For an overview of this year's shareholder engagement season, review the first-of-its-kind 'Proxy Preview Review', which includes voting trends and highlighted engagements on topics including political influence, racial justice, reproductive health, and climate change. 

In May, we hosted a webinar on the Freedom to Invest Initiative. Freedom to Invest aims to protect the freedom to invest responsibly in light of a political backlash against sustainable investment and business practices. Learn more and sign-on here.

We’re also excited to highlight Warren Wilson College’s engagement work on a case study panel at our upcoming Fall Forum, taking place at Virginia Wesleyan University on October 25th, 2023.

If you’re interested in getting involved with IEN’s Shareholder Engagement Initiative to drive change through active ownership, contact Nicole Torrico at [email protected]

From IEN’s Blog:

• SIILK Initiative Call Recap: A Conversation with the Mayaan Fund
• Celebrating Juneteenth at IEN
•  15 Reasons Why ESG Factors Affect Investment Risk & Return - News from PRI
• Private Capital’s Role In Reparations
• Rethinking How We Invest With a Racial Equity Lens
• Nicole Torrico Promoted to Managing Director

Founding Partners of the Investor Agenda Publish Updated Investor Climate Action Plans Expectation Ladder | The Investor Agenda

• The new ICAP Expectation Ladder includes updates to sub-foci as a part of its four focus areas: Investment, Corporate Engagement, Investor Disclosure and Policy Advocacy, and Governance as a cross-focus theme. An increased emphasis is also placed on deforestation as a critical pathway to net zero.

The Case for Investing in HBCUs | Goldman Sachs

• Goldman Sachs’ report on investing in HBCUs explores the role these institutions have in upward mobility for Black people and discusses how to address funding gaps. The report also highlights the safe environment they provide for students, the pivotal part they play in creating a richer and fairer society, and recommends best practices for investments from the public and private sectors.

Private Equity Gets Net-Zero Guidance | ESG Clarity

• The Net Zero Investment Framework Component for the Private Equity Industry, created by the IIGCC, Ceres, and consultant Anthesis, will help PE investors involved in growth, buyout, and similar strategies develop a consistent approach to measuring emissions.

Industry Actions for Racial Equity | W.K. Kellogg Foundation

• A new guide produced between Expanding Equity and W.K. Kellogg Foundation considers the state of JEDI for the investment industry and provides resources, summaries, and four pillars to advance racial equity.

Aligning Climate Policy Engagement with Net-Zero Commitments | UNEP FI

• A recent paper by the NZAOA provides three ways that asset managers can influence public policy, through direct and indirect policy engagement on financial services regulation, economic policy, and the stewardship of climate corporate engagement.

Bluemark Publishes New Impact Benchmarks Powered by Growing Dataset on Best Practices in Impact Management | BlueMark Tideline

• Independent impact verification provider BlueMark’s fourth annual “Making the Mark” report gives insight into best practices for impact management in the company’s largest research sample to date. The report, in part, reveals that “55% of investors include an analysis of impact risk in due diligence.”

Climate Risk Management in the U.S. Insurance Sector | Ceres

• A new report from Ceres offers a systematic review of the climate risk mitigation strategies of U.S. insurers using information from multiple surveys. Among the key findings is an increase in new products offered to support risk reduction among customers or promote the adoption of clean energy technology.

Stewardship and Advocacy Report 2023 | Impax Asset Management

• Impax’s report provides insights on the collaboration between its Sustainability & Stewardship and Policy & Advocacy teams on key issues including biodiversity, climate, diversity and social justice, and governance.

• Students Manage Funds to Learn on the Job l Financial Times
• Your 401(K) Plan May Be Worsening Climate Change, Expert Says l CNBC
• Virginia Students Are Pushing For Fossil Fuel Divestment. Universities Say It's Complicated l Virginia Mercury
• 2023 Student Corporate Engagement Challenge Coverage l Various Outlets

• Church of England: The Church of England will divest its holdings in Shell, which amount to about $1.72 million, after the oil and gas giant failed to lay out actionable plans to align its future with the goals in the Paris Agreement.
• Queen University: Queen University’s first responsible investing revealed a 5% decrease in its pooled endowment fund (PEF) carbon footprint between December 2021 and December 2022. The university is reviewing its responsible investing policy and will launch an inaugural UNPRI report in 2024.
• Royal Holloway, University of London has published an updated version of its IPS that makes public its divestment from fossil fuel and armament companies. The policy also includes a commitment to addressing greenwashing risk, active management, and an expectation from its investment managers to use shareholder voting power to drive climate action.
• Seattle University: Seattle University has completed its divestment from fossil fuels and is committed to addressing the disproportionate effects of climate change on poor and diverse communities.
• University of Minnesota: The University of Minnesota is working with the university’s foundation to create an ESG policy for its $3.1 billion endowment. The ESG policy statement establishes a phased reduction plan in its investment whose primary business is the extraction or processing of fossil fuels.
• University of St. Michael’s College: St Michael’s is the second University of Toronto College to divest from fossil fuels, following Victoria University’s move in April. It has not held direct fossil fuel investments since 2013, but says “complete divestment from fossil fuels builds on USMC’s established initiative of investing according to its institutional values.