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 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:
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
University of Oregon
University of Oregon
Endowment Value: $1.32 billion (2021)
The University of Oregon is a public research university located in Eugene, Oregon. The University of Oregon Foundation manages the endowment and is overseen by the Board of Trustees.
According to the Board’s Statement of Investment Principles, “The UO encourages its advisors and managers to include ESG factors in their analytical processes... [but ESG criteria] are only one factor in analyses and should not be used as exclusionary screens to eliminate specific entities or sectors from consideration.”
In the Fall of 2016, the UO Foundation announced it would begin transitioning away from fossil fuel investments. "We believe that green-energy initiatives — such as solar and wind power, sustainable forestry, and organic farming — will steadily replace investments in carbon-based fuel sources, and we do not have any investments in coal," said UO Foundation Chief Investment Officer, Jay Namyet.
Following this announcement, OU students and faculty organized a forum titled "Investing in the Age of Climate Change” to discuss the impact of climate change on businesses and investors. The panel took place in April of 2017.
The University of Oregon is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
- ACUPCC: No
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee on Investor Responsibility: No
- INCR: No
- Divestment Goal: Yes, full
- Montreal Carbon Pledge: No
- Sustainable Investment Fund: Yes
- Sustainable Investment Policy: Yes, Statement of Investment Principles and ESG Factors in Investment Management
- Principles for Responsible Investment: No
Other Sustainable Investing Practices and Resources:
- Sustainability at the University of Oregon
- UO Divest Campaign protests University of Oregon Foundation Investments in Fossil Fuels (March 2016)
- IEN Blog: UO holds “Investing in the Age of Climate Change” Event (May 2017)
Chatham University
Chatham University
Endowment Value: $95.4 million (2020)
Chatham University is a private university with an enrollment of over 2,200 students. Chatham University offers over 60 undergraduate and graduate programs in four areas of excellence: sustainability; health & lab sciences; business & communication; and the arts & humanities. All undergraduates, save for those in the nursing program, are required to take a course on sustainability.
Currently, Chatham is among the five higher education institutions out of Pennsylvania’s 164 colleges and universities to formally adopt and apply ESG practices as part of their investment strategy. The University’s sustainable investment policy outlines guiding principles that include reducing fossil fuel investments, advocating against corporations that deny climate change, and favoring investments that have positive environmental impacts, promote sustainability, and support positive local community development. More than 13% of Chatham’s investment pool is in sustainable investments.
The administration has worked closely with students on the Student Investment Team (SIT) and the committee on investor responsibility to assess the University’s exposure to fossil fuels and draft recommendations towards sustainable investing. In the Spring of 2017, the investment committee of the Board of Trustees voted to approve two new investment opportunities that are specifically aimed at excluding fossil fuels and supporting sustainable energy. Chatham’s Senior Vice President of Finance, Walt Fowler, said reducing the university’s support of fossil fuel companies is in line with its goal of pursuing sustainability in every part of its operations. “It’s important to us ethically, because we believe the world needs to reduce their use of fossil fuels,” Fowler said. At the end of this year, the university will replace a hedge fund with a private equity fund focused exclusively on supporting wind power. It will also swap investment in a standard equity fund for a BNY Mellon fund that is filtered specifically for green companies but matches the performance of the current fund.
Chatham University is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- IEN Member (2017)
- AASHE STARS: Yes, Gold
- ACUPCC: Yes, Carbon Neutral By 2025
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: No
- CDP: No
- Committee for Investor Responsibility: Yes
- 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 British Columbia
University of British Columbia
Endowment Value: CA$2.8 billion (2021)
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with a student body of around 60,000 located in British Columbia, Canada. The market value of the Endowment Fund directly managed by UBC Investment Management Trust Inc. (IMANT) and is overseen by the Board of Governors.
In 2013, UBC adopted its Responsible Investment Policy. The policy directs UBC to consider environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors to make informed investment decisions for the UBC Endowment. In 2014 through 2015, the Board carefully considered a student and faculty proposal for divestment and a detailed third-party analysis by Koskie Minsky, an external law firm with expertise on responsible investment.
Although the Board did not approve the proposal, it did allocate $10 million to establish the Sustainable Future Pool for donors concerned about climate change. This fund specifically aims to lower carbon emissions and excludes fossil fuels. In April of 2019, the Board voted to approve an additional $25 million contribution to the Sustainable Futures Pool over the next three years, bringing the total contributed to the pool to $50 million by 2022.
UBC Vancouver also has a Sustainability Fund, established in 2011 with $1 million, for projects that help the University achieve its sustainability goals through reducing campus energy and water consumption, reducing operational waste generation, increasing operational waste diversion from landfills, and increasing the use of alternative energy and alternative transportation.
In December of 2019, UBC declared a climate emergency. After acknowledging the severity of the climate crisis, the UBC Board of Governors expressed its support of fossil fuel divestment and directed the administration to begin taking action to divest. Additionally, UBC transferred $380 million from the university’s endowment to the Sustainable Future Pool.
In June 2020, UBC 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 British Columbia is a participant or member of the following Initiatives & Commitments:
- AASHE STARS: No
- ACUPCC: No
- Billion Dollar Green Challenge: Yes
- CDP: No
- Committee on Investor Responsibility: No
- 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: Yes
Other UBC Information:
- UBC 2022 Responsible Investing Report
- UBC signs Canada-wide charter to address climate change through responsible investment (June 2020)
- UBC declares climate emergency and moves forward on two key divestment initiatives (December 2019)
- Annual Endowment Report (March 2017)
- UBC's Sustainable Investment Fund to be Free of Fossil Fuel Companies (February 2017)
- Amid calls for further action, Board of Governors votes to double contribution to UBC’s sustainable endowment fund (April 2019)