Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.87
Liaison Jessica Bast
Submission Date Jan. 5, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

North Carolina State University
PA-14: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.74 / 4.00 Libby George
Director of Investments
Foundations Accounting and Investments
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total value of the investment pool:
984,000,000 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories::
Value of Holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g. renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 0 US/Canadian $
Businesses selected for exemplary sustainability performance (e.g. using criteria specified in a sustainable investment policy) 8,100,000 US/Canadian $
Sustainability investment funds (e.g. a renewable energy or impact investment fund) 0 US/Canadian $
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or the equivalent 0 US/Canadian $
Socially responsible mutual funds with positive screens (or the equivalent) 2,200,000 US/Canadian $
Green revolving loan funds that are funded from the endowment 0 US/Canadian $

A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:

The NC State Foundation established a socially responsible fund in 2014 from proceeds gifted by the Park Foundation. The spending off of this fund is used to support the Universities Park Scholarship Program.
-- Calvert Bond Fund: The Fund's investment process is enhanced by the Advisor's integrated investment research, which seeks to add value by complementing traditional fundamental security analysis with the Advisor's proprietary assessment of critical environmental, social and governance ("ESG") issues. The Fund seeks to apply ESG integration across sectors and holdings as part of its risk and opportunity assessment. The Fund seeks to invest in companies and other enterprises that demonstrate positive ESG performance as they address corporate responsibility and sustainability challenges. Generation: Uses industry road maps to analyze the relevance of sustainability themes on sectors and companies.
-- RBC: Uses negative screens based on the Fund's ESG policy to three underlying investment mandates in Domestic and International Equity.


Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
No

A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
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The sustainable investment policy:
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Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
Yes

A brief description of how the policy is applied, including recent examples:

Best in sector criteria as well as positive and negative filters are used in the evaluation of thirteen key components of environment, social and governance to determine the fund's overall risk tolerance. These components include, but are not limited to, environment & natural resource use, labor rights and supply chain management, human rights and community impact, product quality and safety, corporate governance, animal welfare; defense & weapons; nuclear power reactor ownership; nuclear power essential components, tobacco, alcohol, gambling, and shareholder advocacy and engagement.


Does the institution's sustainable investment policy include negative screens?:
Yes

A brief description of the negative screens and how they have been implemented:

Companies that are not best in sector in the key components noted above are excluded from the portfolio.


Approximate percentage of the endowment that the negative screens apply to:
0.31

Has the institution engaged in proxy voting, either by its CIR or other committee or through the use of guidelines, to promote sustainability during the previous three years?:
No

A copy of the proxy voting guidelines or proxy record:
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A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:
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Has the institution filed or co-filed one or more shareholder resolutions that address sustainability or submitted one or more letters about social or environmental responsibility to a company in which it holds investments during the previous three years?:
No

Examples of how the institution has engaged with corporations in its portfolio about sustainability issues during the previous three years:
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Does the institution engage in policy advocacy by participating in investor networks and/or engaging in inter-organizational collaborations to share best practices?:
No

A brief description of the investor networks and/or collaborations:
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The website URL where information about the institution's sustainable investment efforts is available:
https://foundationsaccounting.ofa.ncsu.edu/foundations/nc-state-university-foundation-inc/
+ Date Revised: Aug. 17, 2016

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.