University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
Endowment Value: $21.0 billion (2024)
Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources from the University of Pennsylvania:
Sustainable Returns - Net Zero Update | Penn Office of Investments (May 2024)
University of North Carolina Asheville
University of North Carolina Asheville
Endowment Value: $52.4 million (2020)
The University of North Carolina Asheville is one of seventeen campuses that comprise the University of North Carolina System. About 3,900 undergraduate students attend UNC Asheville. UNC Management Company manages UNC Asheville's endowment. UNC Asheville is the only liberal arts college within the UNC System.
Student pressure, particularly from UNCA Divest, has played a catalytic role in sparking UNCA’s integration of environmental, social, and governance factors into its investments. UNCA’s vice chancellor for administration and finance John Pierce stated, “our students have been diligent and perceptive in working through the complexities of ESG investments from both a mission-based and financial perspective. Together, we explored alternatives and worked toward solutions.”
In February 2016, UNCA established a student-managed ESG fund and provided $10,000 in seed funding. The goal of this fund is to “invest in projects, companies, funds, or organizations with the express goal of generating and measuring mission-related social, environmental or economic change alongside financial return” alongside creating an educational opportunity for students interested in ethical investment or seeking careers in finance.
In June of 2019, UNCA became the first university in the UNC system to divest in fossil fuels. The decision came after the UNC Asheville Board of Trustees made a historic vote to shift approximately 10% of its $50 million endowment to a manager focused on ESG investing and shareholder advocacy. Students worked closely with the Board and administration to research funds and draft a proposal.
University of North Carolina Asheville is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- AASHE STARS: No
- ACUPCC: No
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee on Investor Responsibility: No
- Divestment Goal: Yes, partial
- INCR: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes (only for a portion of the endowment)
- Principles for Responsible Investment: No
Other Sustainable Investing Practices:
University of New Hampshire
University of New Hampshire
Endowment Value: $401.3 million (2020)
The University of New Hampshire is a public research university with its main campus in Durham, New Hampshire. It has a student body of approximately 15,000 across its six campuses. The UNH Foundation manages the endowment.
UNH considers sustainability a core value underpinning university academics, research, and operations. UNH has received a perfect score on the Princeton Review’s Green College Honor Roll. In 2019, UNH was one of only four universities to receive a Platinum STARS rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE).
The University’s commitment to sustainability, largely thanks to conversations sparked by students, is now integrated into its investment practices. Since 2017, the UNH Committee on Investor Responsibility (CIR), with membership including students, faculty, alumni, endowment stakeholders, and external advisors, has helped support the Foundation in sustainable, socially responsible investment practices and policies through:
- Researching sustainable investment opportunities
- Considering sustainable investment proposals from the UNH community
- Making recommendations to the Asset Allocation Committee (AAC) of the UNHF Board of Directors on possible courses of action
- Educating and informing the broader UNH community about sustainable investment practices in general and about UNH’s sustainable investment practices in particular.
UNHF’s investment policy takes a multi-pronged approach, including positive and negative screening, full ESG integration into financial analysis, and active ownership through shareholder engagement opportunities. Furthermore, ESG factors are strongly considered in manager selection. As a signatory of the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment, much of the Foundation’s sustainable investment commitments are guided by those principles.
UNHF currently has an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) endowment pool, which was created in 2015. The initial $1 million seed funding has grown to approximately $40 million as of March 2019. In 2017, the Foundation invested $3 million into the NH Community Loan Fund as a component of the fixed income segment of the main pool. NHCLF is the Foundation’s first direct impact investment to make affordable financing options available to economically disadvantaged individuals and communities in New Hampshire.
In 2020, UNH was featured in the Intentional Endowment Network’s case study on ESG investing. The study revealed that schools employing ESG investing practices saw the same or better returns as schools employing a traditional approach to investing. Read the full study here.
University of New Hampshire is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Platinum
- ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral By 2099
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: Yes
- CDP: No
- Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
- Divestment Goal: No
- INCR: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: No
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
- Principles for Responsible Investment: Yes
Other Sustainable Investing Resources, Practices, and News:
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UNH President Dean signs IEN/Second Nature Call to Action for Higher Education Leadership | University of New Hampshire Website
- On the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, President Dean signed a call to action that aims to accelerate climate solutions in higher education institutions
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Sustainable Investing at UNH | University of New Hampshire Website
- Part of UNH's investment pool is composed of ESG-targeted assets and ESG-screened active and passive (index) funds, in order to achieve better operational performance, innovation, and risk management within their investments.
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UNH Expands Sustainability Leadership with Alignment of Investments and Values | UNH Newsroom, May 2019
- UNH completed the transition of 16% of its investable assets to ESG investments as it works to align the university's investments and sustainable values
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Panel: An Introduction to The IEN Roadmap & How The University of New Hampshire Intentionally Invests l Intentional Endowments Network and WISE, May 2019
- At the event, we heard University of New Hampshire stakeholders describe the why’s and how’s of the journey they are on to align investments with their campus-wide sustainability goals.
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Q&A Series: Making an ESG Impact Through Public Fixed Income l Intentional Endowments Network, April 2019
- In this Q&A article, IEN approached industry experts to gain insight on opportunities and trends within the sector and how managers and asset owners measure the impact of their investments.
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Q&A Series: The Power and Impact of Community Investing l Intentional Endowments Network, September 2018
- In this Q&A article, IEN approached specialists within the Community Investing space to get their perspectives on the value of Community Investing, understanding how to incorporate such investments in one's portfolio and how to truly make an impact regardless of varying levels of assets under management.
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Article: Feature School - University of New Hampshire l Intentional Endowments Network, Quarterly Newsletter, July 2018
- This feature article in IEN's newsletter discusses the UNH Foundation's commitment to sustainable investing and UNH's history of sustainability and sustainable investing.
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Panel: What Might Community Investing Look Like for a College Endowment? l Intentional Endowments Network, Community Investing Roundtable, June 2018
- On this panel, Kate Dumas (Principal/Consultant, Prime Buchholz) invited Erik Gross (Board Treasurer, UNH Foundation) and John Hamilton (Vice President of Economic Opportunity, New Hampshire Community Loan Fund) to illustrate what community investing might look like for a college endowment.
Grinnell College
Grinnell College
Endowment Value: $2.93 billion (2021)
Grinnell College is a private liberal arts college located in Grinnell, Iowa. Most of Grinnell's endowment assets are invested with external managers, who have been chosen following extensive reviews by the College’s internal investment staff and approved by the board’s Investment Committee. Investor partners Joe Rosenfield, alumnus, and Warren Buffet both sat on the Board of Trustees and worked with the administration to grow the endowment.
Grinnell College first published a campus-wide sustainability plan in 2013 with the goal of reducing its carbon footprint and pursuing sustainability through three intersecting spheres: environmental (such as resource management), social (education, community, living standards), and economic (profit, cost-savings, fair trade). In 2017 and 2018, Grinnell College updated its plan to include carbon emissions reduction and renewable sourcing goals.
In April 2017, the Board of Trustees (BoT) appointed a Board Fossil Fuels and Climate Impact Task Force to study divestment from fossil fuels and explore ways in which Grinnell College can have a positive impact on climate change. The Task Force’s recommendations that were endorsed by the BoT included a.) to maintain the current investment policy and not divest from fossil fuels, b.) increase the Investment Committee’s shareholder engagement in ESG-related issues, and c.) assess the feasibility of creating a separate fund for donors wishing to contribute to an ESG-screened, fossil fuel-free fund in the endowment. The Task Force also recommended that the investment team continue to leverage alliances with like-minded investors, through organizations such as the Intentional Endowments Network (IEN) and Ceres.
Grinnell College is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- AASHE STARS: No
- ACUPCC: Yes, no set carbon neutral date
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee on Investor Responsibility: Yes
- Divestment Goal: No
- INCR: Yes
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: In development
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
- Principles for Responsible Investment: No
Other Sustainable Investing Practices:
Northland College
Northland College
Endowment Value: $25.8 million (2020)
Northland College is a private liberal arts college in Ashland, Wisconsin. Northland College has a student body of 600 and centers the environment and sustainability in its education. The Board of Trustees oversees the management of Northland’s endowment.
In 2017, Northland College formed the Committee on Investor Responsibility (CIR) to consider fossil fuel divestment. Since then, the CIR’s role has been expanded to include the full scope of sustainable investment including making recommendations on socially and environmentally responsible investment opportunities and proxy voting advice. In February 2018, the Board of Trustees authorized Northern Trust Company, its primary financial manager, to begin implementing the Board's proposal to remove fossil fuels from the endowment over the course of five years.
In early 2020, Northland College completed its divestment process. Roughly $823,000 of the college’s $25.8 million endowment was divested from the fossil fuel industry.
Northland College is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- IEN Member (2017)
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
- ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral By 2030
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee on Investor Responsibility: Yes
- Divestment Goal: Yes, full
- INCR: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: No
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
- Principles for Responsible Investment: No
Articles
Loyola Marymount University
Loyola Marymount University
Endowment Value: $482.2 million (2020)
Loyola Marymount University is a private research university located in Los Angeles, California. The LMU Board of Trustees’ Endowment Committee manages its endowment.
In July of 2017, LMU became a signatory of the United Nations’ supported Principles for Responsible Investment. The agreement is the result of a two-year exploration of responsible investing on campus, which included active engagement among trustees and administrators, student groups, and the university’s Jesuit community. LMU is the first Jesuit Catholic university to become a signatory in the United States.
“LMU continues to be a vanguard of environmental responsibility and sustainability in higher education, and we are proud to uphold the Principles for Responsible Investment,” said President Timothy Law Snyder, Ph.D. “We prepare our students to thrive as thought leaders and global citizens to create a better planet for those here and for those to come. Ever mindful of LMU’s mission to provide a whole-person approach to our education, we seek to catalyze education, innovation, and stewardship initiatives that benefit humankind. We lead by example, and we hope that our partnership with PRI will inspire other institutions to incorporate environmental and social decision-making into their investments.”
As of Spring 2019, LMU’s responsible investing advisory committee (RIAC), formed in November 2017, finalized a Responsible Investment Policy. The Responsible Investment Policy stated that the University should proactively invest in various types of clean and sustainable energy.
Loyola Marymount University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
- ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral by 2050
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Divestment Goal: No
- Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
- INCR: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: No
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
- Principles for Responsible Investment: Yes
Other Sustainable Investing Practices:
Carleton College
Carleton College
Endowment Value: $1.2 billion (2021)
Carleton College is a private college located in Northfield, Minnesota. The Carleton Responsible Investment Committee (CRIC) was established in 2005 and is composed of students, staff, and faculty. The primary purpose of the CRIC is to make recommendations about the management of the endowment to the Board of Trustees to ensure that the endowment embodies Carleton's values. For example, within the past three years, the Committee has supported multiple shareholder resolutions that strengthened environmental, social, and governance policies of companies in its investment portfolio.
In addition, in the wake of growing student mobilization for fossil fuel divestment, students from the CRIC organized a student-led town hall discussion on the pros and cons of divestment in the fossil fuel industry
According to the most recent STARS Report, “while Carleton does not have a sustainable investment policy, the College aims to invest with managers whose standards of propriety, fairness, and ethical integrity align with those of the College. The College tries to select managers that will generate superior returns, but not at all costs, and make investments in a responsible manner that takes into account societal impacts.” The College also reports that a percentage of its endowment is invested in sustainable industries such as renewable energy and sustainable forestry.
Carleton College is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- IEN Member: No
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Silver
- ACUPCC: Yes, Climate Neutral by 2050
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee on Investor Responsibility: Yes
- INCR: No
- Divestment Goal: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
- Sustainable Investment Policy: No
- Principles for Responsible Investment: Yes
Other Sustainable Investing Practices and News:
Columbia University
Columbia University
Endowment Value: $14.35 billion (June 2021)
Columbia University is a private institution located in New York City. The Columbia Investment Management Company (IMC) manages the University's endowment. Columbia established the Advisory Committee on Socially Responsible Investing (ASCRI) in March 2000. The Committee's purpose is to advise the University Trustees on ethical and social issues that arise in the management of the University's endowment. To ensure that the Committee is broadly representative of the University community, its twelve voting members are drawn in equal proportion from students, faculty, and alumni of the University.
The ACSRI maintains comprehensive guidelines for the endowment’s socially responsible investment proxy voting that includes positions on a variety of issues. According to The University’s most recent STARS report, Columbia currently performs negative screenings for tobacco producers/manufacturers, private prison operators, companies deriving more than 35% of their revenue in thermal coal production, and those implicated in human rights abuses.
Columbia University houses the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), which is a joint center of Columbia Law School and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. The CCSI is the only university-based applied research center and forum dedicated to the study, practice, and discussion of sustainable investment.
Columbia University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
- ACUPCC: No
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: Yes
- Committee on Investor Responsibility: Yes
- Divestment Goal: Yes, divestment from coal & in oil and gas companies
- INCR: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: No
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
- Principles for Responsible Investment: No
Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources from Columbia University:
University of Winnipeg Foundation
Endowment Value: $71.18 million (June 2019)
The University of Winnipeg is a public university located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Its endowment is managed by the University of Winnipeg Foundation.
The University of Winnipeg’s Board of Regents adopted the University’s Campus Sustainability Policy and sustainability management framework in 2006 on the recommendation of the President’s Task Force on Sustainability. Since then, the institution has realized several sustainability goals and received several sustainability awards.
In May 2017, the Board adopted a socially responsible investment policy. The policy requires the Foundation to consider negative screening when faced with companies whose practices violate ESG criteria. The Foundation states that it expects its external managers to consider shareholder proposals on ESG issues and, at times, engage with companies as a shareholder. Winnipeg currently has holdings in at least one fossil fuel-free pooled fund. The University of Winnipeg Students' Association has played a significant role in sparking and maintaining a conversation about fossil fuel divestment.
The University of Winnipeg is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- IEN Member (2017)
- AASHE STARS: No
- ACUPCC: No
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee for Investor Responsibility: No
- Divestment Goal: No
- INCR: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
- Principles for Responsible Investment: No
Other Sustainable Investing Practices and News:
- University of Winnipeg’s Fossil Fuel Free Pooled Fund
- University of Winnipeg Responsible Investing Policy
- Divestment Discussions
University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
Endowment Value: $338.8 million CAD (2021)
The University of Ottawa is a public university located in Ottawa, Ontario in Canada. Approximately 42,500 students attend the university. The Finance and Treasury Committee manages the endowment.
As a signatory of the UN’s Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI) and the Montreal Carbon Pledge, the University of Ottawa has “has made a public commitment to make investment decisions that consider ESG issues while taking appropriate steps to meet its fiduciary responsibilities to optimize investment returns”.
In April 2016, University of Ottawa’s Finance and Treasury Committee released a 19-page report describing the University’s response to addressing climate change. The report recognizes the role of the student-led Fossil Free UOttawa divestment campaign in sparking a debate about the role the University should play in the fight against global warming.
While UOttawa is currently not pursuing divestment, uOttawa created a separate Clean Innovations Fund and provided the initial seed capital for the long-term portfolio. uOttawa is also taking considerable action towards reducing its carbon footprint across campus facilities.
In June 2020, uOttawa 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.
The University of Ottawa is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Silver
- ACUPCC: No
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee on Investor Responsibility: Yes
- Divestment Goal: Yes, partial
- INCR: No
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: Yes
- Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
- Principles for Responsible Investment: Yes
Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources:
- uOttawa signs national charter to address climate change (June 2020)
- Addressing Global Warming: The uOttawa Response (April 2016)
- uOttawa to Seek Ways to 'Shift' Fossil Fuel Investments; Rejects Full Divestment (April 2016)
- Fossil Free Campaign Orientation Paper
- Responsible Investment Guideline
- Report on Sustainable Development
- Sustainability on Campus