| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 83.87 |
| Liaison | Yolanda Cieters |
| Submission Date | March 1, 2024 |
Seattle University
PA-10: Sustainable Investment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.26 / 3.00 |
Yolanda
Cieters Associate Director CEJS |
Total value of the investment pool:
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) | 0 US/Canadian $ |
| Sustainability investment funds (e.g., a renewable energy or impact investment fund) | 404,000 US/Canadian $ |
| Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or the equivalent | 0 US/Canadian $ |
| Socially responsible mutual funds with positive screens (or the equivalent) | 0 US/Canadian $ |
| Green revolving funds funded from the endowment | 0 US/Canadian $ |
A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:
Regarding the "sustainable investment funds":
404,000 US $ funded of a total $2.0 million in commitments. In 2022, Seattle University made commitments totaling $2.0 million to two venture capital funds that invest in purpose-driven companies aiming to solve world critical problems across three thematic pillars: sustainable systems, healthy living, and people power.
Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
The sustainable investment policy:
Investment options for the endowment are guided by the following charge in the Investment Policy Statement:
“Consistent with the University’s Jesuit Catholic values, the (Investment) Committee will consider the University’s commitment to ethics and social responsibility in making investment decisions. While the Committee remains committed to its fiduciary duty to the University’s long-term financial growth and sustainability, it also recognizes the value of non-traditional investment opportunities in providing a reasonable return as well as furthering the University’s mission and values.”
In June 2022 the university’s Board of Trustees approved the Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Addendum to the Investment Policy Statement. The ESG Addendum was developed by the Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Advisory Working Group and was recommended by the endowment’s Investment Committee that the Board approve it. The purpose of this addendum is to provide the OCIO (Outsourced Chief Investment Officer) with ESG considerations that are to be evaluated along with other factors when selecting investments for the endowment.
Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
A brief description of how the sustainable investment policy is applied:
The ESG Addendum to the endowment’s Investment Policy Statement (see explanation above) provides the OCIO with ESG considerations that are to be evaluated along with other factors when selecting investments for the endowment.
In pursuing the university’s socially responsible investment objectives, the OCIO includes ESG considerations to the extent practical and appropriate in its manager due diligence and seeks managers that incorporate ESG issues into investment analysis and decision-making processes. The addendum provides details of the environmental, social and governance values to be considered by the OCIO.
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?:
A copy of the proxy voting guidelines or proxy record:
A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:
We are not doing this yet. We are investigating proxy voting guideline options to promote sustainability with our OCIO and fund managers.
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?:
Examples of how the institution has engaged with corporations in its portfolio about sustainability issues during the previous three years:
-- The university has not directly filed shareholder resolutions, but the university’s largest fund manager (managing about 25% of the endowment’s assets) has submitted letters to companies about social and environmental issues over the last three years.
--The fund manager, in each of the last three years, has engaged with chocolate companies that source their cocoa from family and third-party farms in some of the poorest areas of the world. Children regularly work on these farms rather than going to school, or if there is a school to attend, they often also perform substantial and sometimes dangerous work after school. Poverty, lack of schools, and a different view of child labor result in the systemic problem of child labor on cocoa farms. All of the companies the fund manager has met with recognize the systemic issue of child labor in their supply chains, acknowledge that thousands of children farm cocoa that goes into their products, and have committed various levels of people, dollars, and programs to address this issue.
The fund manager has encouraged companies to:
1) establish reporting on select key performance indicators (KPIs) such as their suppliers;
2) improve their reporting on existing KPIs such as their SASB supply chain labor metrics; and
3) reduce their incidences of child and forced labor.
In each of these asks, the fund manager has provided specific examples of companies that do a better job to demonstrate that improvement is possible.
The fund manager, in each of the last two years, has collectively engaged with a Northeast US electric utility that is among the 100 largest publicly traded greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters. The fund manager’s collective engagement initiative provides extensive industry-specific data and a dashboard with which it may compare electric utilities being engaged by the initiative. The fund manager has discussed regulatory challenges, capital spending plans, coal power plant decommissioning, just transition for workers and other topics the company considers when attempting to reduce their GHG emissions. The initiative has recently revised and improved the data and dashboard, which will help the fund manager to better assess the company’s progress at reducing their GHG emissions and the success of the fund manager’s engagement.
Does the institution participate in a public divestment effort and/or have a publicly available investment policy with negative screens?:
A brief description of the divestment effort or negative screens and how they have been implemented:
On June 30 2023, Seattle University fulfilled the resolution approved by its Board of Trustees in September 2018 to be completely divested of investments in companies with fossil fuel reserves in the marketable portion of the endowment’s portfolio. The university is the first higher education institution in Washington state and the first Jesuit Catholic university in the country to fulfill this commitment of divestment.
No new investments are permitted to hold/consist of companies with fossil fuel reserves.
Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
Does the institution engage in policy advocacy by participating in investor networks and/or engage in inter-organizational collaborations to share best practices?:
A brief description of the investor networks and/or collaborations:
- Our OCIO, Cambridge Associates, is involved in a number of sustainable/impact investing networks and has conducted numerous collaborations. Those partnerships include:
o CERES
o UN PRI (Principles for Responsible Investment)
o Intentional Endowments Network (IEN)
o Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR)
o and many others: See here for more information: https://www.cambridgeassociates.com/impact-investing/#industry-partnerships
--Partnerships with the Intentional Endowment Network (IEN):
Example: SU faculty members participation in IEN panel "Investing in Sustainability: How to Leverage Your Institution's Endowment" at WOHESC 2021: https://www.wohesc.org/program/
Example: IEN was a featured presenter at Seattle University’s (SU’s) Earth Talks 2021. https://www.seattleu.edu/cejs/events/earth-talks-2023/2021/#Kawauchi
-- Participation of SU’s Director of Treasury and Risk Management in the 2022 Endowment Leadership Forum by NACUBO with sessions on ESG and on Diversity: https://www.nacubo.org/Events/2022/2022%20Endowment%20Leadership%20Forum
Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable investment efforts is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.