Pages tagged "Divestment Goal"

Brown Univeristy

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · July 30, 2015 5:15 PM

Brown University 

Endowment Value: $6.9 billion (June 2021)

Brown University is a private college in Providence, Rhode Island. The endowment is managed by the Brown University Investment Office. The Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies (ACCRIP) considers issues of ethical and moral responsibility in the investment policies of Brown University. Committee members include students, faculty, staff, and alumni of the University. ACCRIP examines all proxy resolutions concerning issues of social responsibility that are presented to the University as a shareholder and has developed guidelines for voting on such resolutions.

In 2016, Brown launched the Sustainable Investment Fund, a fund with no minimum donation that gives donors who wish to support the University philanthropically a sustainability-focused giving option structured to invest in companies that meet high standards of environmental, social, and governance practices.

In 2017, President Christina Paxson announced the formation of a Task Force on Climate Change and Business and Investment Practices that will identify and recommend opportunities for Brown to fully align Brown's business practices with the University's commitment to addressing climate change. In February of 2019, President Paxson endorsed a bipartisan plan to tax carbon proposed by the Climate Leadership Council. 

In March 2020, Brown hosted the Future of Sustainable Investing Conference (FSIcon). Leaders in finance and sustainability taught students about ESG investing in hopes of uniting students and industry experts in utilizing finance to create a more equitable future.

Following years of student activism, Brown University announced in March 2020 that it planned to divest fully from fossil fuels. The university began selling fossil fuel securities in October 2017 and had sold 90% of its investments in fossil fuels by March 2020. The investment office plans to sell the remaining 10% in the coming months and years.

Brown University 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: Yes, The Advisory Committee on Corporate Responsibility in Investment Policies
  • Divestment Goal: Yes, cut campus greenhouse gas emissions 2025, net-zero by 2040, liquidate fossil fuel investments
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:



Unity Environmental University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · July 29, 2015 1:20 PM

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Unity Environmental University

Endowment Value: $18 million (2025)

Unity Environmental University is a private university with a student body of 10,390 (’24 -’25). Its main campus is located on the Pineland Farms campus in New Gloucester, Maine. Unity is also known as “America’s Environmental University” and is a founding member of the Intentional Endowments Network.

J.P Morgan Chase and the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees manage the University’s $18 million-dollar endowment. In 2012, the University’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to fully divest from fossil fuels, making them the first institution of higher learning in the United States to do so. A report released by Unity’s finance officials showed that the University’s investment portfolio had exceeded performance expectations following the decision to divest.

“Unity Environmental University is proud to have been the first institution of higher education to divest its endowment from fossil fuel,” said President & CEO Dr. Melik Peter Khoury. “It was our goal to be the roadmap that showed other institutions this is possible. Now that universities like Harvard and Dartmouth, with their massive endowments, have followed our lead, we have seen fossil fuel divestment become a norm and turn into a $40+ trillion-dollar movement,” said Dr. Khoury.

In 2020, Unity was featured in the Intentional Endowments Network’s case study on ESG investing. The study found that schools using ESG investment strategies achieved returns that were comparable to, or better than, those using traditional investment approaches.

“This has been a great decision for Unity College as well as the environment. Since divesting, our portfolio has outperformed many indexes,” said Dr. Khoury.

Read the full study here.

Resources:

Unity Environmental University

Divested: The campus movement to shun fossil fuels

Unity Environmental University Celebrates Decade of Divestment

 

The New School

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · July 28, 2015 1:42 PM

The New School

Endowment Value: $393.5 million (2020)

The New School is a private research university located in New York City, New York. The endowment is managed by the New School’s Office of Investment, Treasury Operations, and Risk Management.

In 2009, the board of trustees established the Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility (ACIR). The role of the ACIR is to advise the board of trustees on ESG issues related to The New School’s endowment and to develop ESG investing principles related to human rights, labor practices, environmental protection, equity, diversity, discrimination, and corporate disclosure. In 2012, The New School adopted the Sustainability Proxy Voting Guidelines, which established standards against which the Investment Committee could evaluate its investments.

In 2015, The New School not only became one of the largest universities to divest from fossil fuels, but it also has plans to reshape its entire curriculum to focus more on climate change and sustainability through a multi-pronged approach to issues related to university facilities, curriculum, food services, and other areas.

The New School is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

  • AASHE STARS: Yes, Silver
  • ACUPCC: Yes, Climate Neutral by 2040
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: Yes
  • 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

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources:

 

Hampshire College

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · July 14, 2015 12:26 AM
Hampshire College

Endowment Value: $26.5 million (2024)

Hampshire College is a private liberal arts college located in Amherst, Massachusetts. The college's endowment, of which is 80% donor-restricted,is managed by the Trustees of Hampshire College.

Hampshire College was among the first colleges to adopt SRI policies in the 1970s, and it was the first to divest from South Africa to protest apartheid. In 2011, Hampshire began incorporating ESG principles into its investment strategy by adopting an investment policy that emphasized positive screening and active investment in companies that aligned with Hampshire’s mission. This new policy led Hampshire College to become the first college to divest from fossil fuels.

Hampshire College’s Policy on Environmental, Social, and Governance Investing acknowledges that because of the long-term risks certain business practices pose, consideration of ESG principles is part of the college’s fiduciary duties. Read the full policy here.

In January 2019, College President Miriam Nelson announced the College’s intention to find a long-term strategic partner to merge with and ensure a “thriving and sustainable future”, citing both financial and enrollment hardships as a small, under-endowed liberal arts college.

In 2020, Hampshire College 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.

Hampshire College is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and News:


Pitzer College

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · June 30, 2015 1:12 AM

Pitzer College

Endowment Value: $144.3 million (2021)

Pitzer College is a private college located in Claremont, California with a student population of about 1,000. From innovative, green buildings to food waste initiatives, Pitzer College is a model of sustainability in the modern era. Such initiatives have earned it a second place rank in the 2018 Princeton Review Guide of 399 Green Colleges.

In 2014, Pitzer adopted several responsible investment practices such as considering ESG factors in portfolio manager selection and monitoring, establishing a sustainability fund as a subset of its endowment holdings, and divesting from fossil fuels (making Pitzer the first college in Southern California to divest from fossil fuels). Don Gould, trustee and chair of the investment committee at Pitzer College, published an article in the Chronicle of Higher Education outlining their rationale for divesting from fossil fuels. In this article, he shares responses to some of the most common concerns regarding divestment, including fiduciary duty, financial performance, the impact on fossil fuel companies, the hypocrisy of continuing to use fossil fuels after divesting, sacrificing returns, and politicizing the endowment.

In 2017, Pitzer College became the founding investor to the first-ever global equity index that is both ESG-focused and fossil fuel-free. According to the press release, “the fund is designed to help endowments, foundations and other nonprofit organizations meet their Responsible Investment goals.”

Pitzer College is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

  • IEN Member (2017)
  • AASHE STARS: Yes, Silver
  • ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral by 2050
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • Divestment Goal: Yes, divestment from fossil fuels
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:

San Francisco State University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · June 30, 2015 1:10 AM

San Francisco State University 

Endowment Value: $140.8 million (2021)

San Francisco State University is a public university located in San Francisco, California. It is a part of the California State University system. The endowment is managed by the San Francisco State University Foundation, an organization dedicated solely to philanthropy. 

In 2013, after working with student activists, the SF State Foundation voted unanimously to divest from all coal and tar sands companies, becoming the first public university and the first school on the west coast to do so. It also committed to researching the possibility of divestment from all fossil fuel companies.

In 2015, the SFSU Board was in the process of allocating $5 million to establish a green fund, as well as establishing a $500,000 student-managed investment fund. The goal of the student-managed fund is to expose students of different academic backgrounds to SRI investing. The SF State Foundation also calculated the carbon footprint of its portfolio and will measure the change in its footprint over time.

In 2016, SFSU partnered with IEN to host the Intentionally Designed Endowment Forum to promote conversation on endowment investing by bringing together campus decision-makers such as presidents, trustees, CFOs, CIOs, and others from campuses in California and the region.

San Francisco State University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

  • IEN Founding Member (2016)
  • AASHE STARS: Yes, Silver
  • ACUPCC: No
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • Divestment Goal: Yes, divestment from coal and tar sands
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:

Resources from SFSU:

 

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Stanford University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · June 16, 2015 11:09 AM

Stanford University 

Endowment Value: $37.8 billion (Aug. 2021) 

Stanford University is a private university located in Stanford, California with approximately 17,000 students. The Stanford Management Company (SMC) and Board of Trustees oversee the endowment. 

Stanford is currently one of only six higher education institutions to earn the highest rank in the Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS), due to its significant efforts to integrate social and environmental awareness into its curriculum, operations, and investments.

Since its adoption of a statement on investor responsibility in 1971, Stanford has recognized its responsibility as an investor and has periodically outlined and updated policies to guide its commitment to responsible investment in a contemporary context. The SMC’s Ethical Investment Framework was adopted in 2018 to govern and complement Stanford’s existing statement. According to the framework, investment decisions are guided based on the understanding that businesses are far more likely to endure and generate sustainable returns on investor capital when they behave with due regard for the welfare of their stakeholders and the communities in which they operate. Stanford currently has a Special Committee on Investment Responsibility (SCIR) of the Board of Trustees as well as Investment Responsibility and Stakeholder Relations (IRSR) office to review proposals submitted by the community and function as an ad-hoc, issue-based fact-finding committee responsible for research and campus engagement where needed.

As such, Stanford’s efforts to address environmental, social, and governance issues through investment has manifested in adopting a climate change proxy voting guideline to support resolutions for companies to analyze levels of greenhouse gas emissions and develop plans to reduce and/or eliminate them. Stanford has adopted policies that preclude owning specific companies with operations implicated in Sudanese human rights abuses, the tobacco industry, and companies whose principal business is coal mining for electricity.

In 2018, Stanford committed $10 million over a 10-year period to develop an expanded platform of educational and research opportunities for students and faculty with interests in responsible investing and governance.

In June 2020, the Stanford Board of Trustees reported a major reduction in the university’s fossil fuel investments. Less than 1.5% of the university’s endowment is now exposed to the fossil fuel industry and the university’s endowment has no direct holdings in the top 100 oil and gas companies. In addition, the Board of Trustees stated that the university would be accelerating its transition to efficient energy sources in hopes of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.

Stanford University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

  • AASHE STARS: Yes, Platinum
  • ACUPCC: No
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • Divestment Goal: Yes, coal only
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: No

Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources:

 

Brandeis University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · May 04, 2015 3:08 PM

Brandeis University 

Endowment Value: $1.3 billion (2021)

Brandeis University is a private college in Waltham, Massachusetts. The Brandeis Sustainability Fund provides financial support for Brandeis undergraduate students willing to undertake projects and/or activities to improve Brandeis’s environmental sustainability.

Brandeis University has a strong history of leadership in social justice, a legacy that has impacted its endowment management policies. Since its adoption of a Responsible Investor General Guideline by the Board of Trustees in 1973, Brandeis University has strived to be conscious of the social and environmental impact of its investments and exercises its ethical responsibilities as an investor. Following significant student activism and the recommendations of an exploratory committee on fossil fuel divestment, in November of 2018, the president of Brandeis officially announced the Board of Trustee’s decision to adopt a coal divestment policy. Furthermore, the president’s announcement stated that the investment office and the board’s investment committee would take measures to find investments in renewable energy sources and technologies focused on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

Brandeis University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:

Humboldt State University

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · April 12, 2015 4:01 PM

Humboldt State University 

Endowment Value: $32.1 million (2020)

Humboldt State University is a part of the California State University System located in Arcata, California. The Humboldt State University Advancement Foundation (HSUAF) oversees the endowment and uses negative screening to reduce its investments in harmful industries. 

In 2013, students approached the HSUAF at an associated students meeting to advocate for divestment from fossil fuels. In response, the HSUAF took many steps to advance its tradition of environmental sustainability. The Social and Environmentally Responsible Offset Policy (SEROP) was adopted in April of 2014, making HSU the first state University in the US to commit to full fossil fuel divestment. That same year, the HSUAF decided to direct 10% of its portfolio to green funds and explored creating a “Green Challenge,” allowing for another 10% of the portfolio to be shifted to green funds for every $500,000 donated to the endowment.

In 2016, the HSU Office of Sustainability published a comprehensive Climate Action Plan that outlines more than 50 action items to achieve its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. HSU also became a Charter Signatory for the Campus Climate Commitment, which encompasses the goals of achieving both carbon neutrality as well as improving community resilience.

Humboldt State University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:  

  • IEN Founding Member (2016)
  • AASHE STARS: No
  • ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral By 2050
  • Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
  • CDP: No
  • Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
  • Divestment Goal: Yes, fossil free divestment
  • INCR: No
  • Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
  • Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
  • Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes
  • Principles for Responsible Investment: Yes

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:

Amherst College

Posted on Endowment Snapshots by · April 12, 2015 3:57 PM

Endowment Value: $3.5 billion (June 2024)

Amherst College is a private college located in Amherst, Massachusetts. The endowment is managed by the Amherst College Office of Investment and Investment Committee.

Amherst currently partners with 73 sustainable investment managers, who in turn invest in public stocks, bonds, real estate, private companies, natural resources, and other assets. Each of these independent managers operates with full discretion to buy, sell, or trade a range of securities. Amherst aims to invest with managers who thoughtfully and consistently incorporate ESG factors into their investment process. The Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees and the Office of Investment have the important task of determining where the college should invest its capital. The College does not have the ability to dictate which securities its independent managers should buy or to avoid, as Amherst’s assets are almost always invested in partnerships alongside other investors. However, Amherst does encourage its investment partners to “thoughtfully and consistently incorporate environmental considerations into the investment process.” Investment managers are aware that sustainability is an important consideration for the college in making investments. They are also aware of how important sustainable investing principles are to their continued ability to attract investment dollars.

Over the past decade, Amherst College has taken significant steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on campus, including switching to lower-carbon fuel sources, adding a co-generation plant to create heat and electricity from those fuel sources more efficiently, designing and constructing buildings following a high-performance building standard, and completing recommissioning and deep energy retrofits of existing buildings to further improve campus energy efficiency. As a result, Amherst has seen a 30 percent reduction in emissions from its 2006 emissions levels.

In 2015, the Amherst College Board of Trustees approved a Statement on Sustainability and Investment Policy, which acknowledged the grave threat posed by the climate crisis and supported the development of a strategy for achieving carbon-neutrality on campus. The College pledged to “adopt policies that embed sustainability in its operations, in its investment process, and its life as a community,” and declared it would regularly report progress to the Amherst community. In 2017, the College also developed a plan to go “beyond carbon neutral,” which would apply a carbon tax to Amherst’s emissions in 2035. Additionally, Amherst plans to fund projects that will decarbonize the campus.

Amherst is a member of the Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR), a network founded by Ceres, a nonprofit organization advocating for sustainability leadership. "As part of our involvement with the INCR, the College has supported two letter-writing initiatives: one to the finance ministers of the Group of Seven in support of a long-term global emissions reduction goal and one in support of the White House’s proposal to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by at least 45% below 2012 levels by 2025." In 2017, the College also became a signatory to the “We Are Still In Campaign” to demonstrate its commitment to delivering on the Paris Agreement’s goals.

Proxy Voting Policy - Amherst College continues to use its shareholder voting rights to promote the principles of sustainable and responsible investment, utilizing research from ISS for all proxies before casting votes in alignment with these principles. The College continues to proactively evaluate and vote shareholder proxies in alignment with ESG principles, advocating for corporate accountability on social, ethical, environmental, and governance issues.

In 2019, Amherst announced its plan to go carbon neutral by 2030. The College plans to use geothermal and solar energy to achieve this goal. The Board of Trustees mentioned that the school will not rely on carbon offsets to achieve carbon neutrality and will instead focus on diminishing its dependence on fossil fuels while increasing its usage of renewable energy.

Amherst College is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments: 

Other Sustainable Investing Practices:

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