University of Pittsburgh
PA-9: Committee on Investor Responsibility

The University of Pittsburgh's formal history of applying environmental, social, and governance considerations to its Endowment dates back to the late 1970s when the Board of Trustees’ Investment Committee (IC) added a “Social Responsibility” section to its governing documents. That statement verifies that the IC can take risk into account in its investments, but clearly states that the IC Committee shall not apply non-financial constraints to investments unless the Board directs them to.
Reference: https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/osec-docs/2023_01_25_statement_of_governance_-_amended_and_restated_-_final.pdf

Resultantly, there are two answers to the question about whether and how the University of Pittsburgh has a formally established and active committee on investor responsibility.
1) The Board of Trustees Investment Committee and
2) Other Pitt Board and Community Committees focused on socially responsible investing and environmental, social, and governance considerations from 2018 to present.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES INVESTMENT COMMITTEE
As a committee of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pittsburgh, the Investment Committee (which has Trustee, faculty, staff, and student members), provides advice to the Chief Investment Officer of the University regarding the management of the University endowment. The Investment Committee’s responsibilities include (but are not necessarily limited to) the approval of endowment investment guidelines, objectives and spending policies, and the review of the selection of investment advisers and consultants and the review of the performance of investments.
BOT Investment Committee website - https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/investment-committee

The Investment Committee’s Statement of Governance for Pitt's Consolidated Endowment Fund clearly states, “the Committee shall not apply non-financial constraints pertaining to investment holdings of the CEF unless there is a situation of such magnitude that the Board specifically directs the Committee to consider such non-financial parameters.” Reference: https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/osec-docs/2023_01_25_statement_of_governance_-_amended_and_restated_-_final.pdf

The University of Pittsburgh is committed to incorporating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors in the management of the Consolidated Endowment Fund (CEF), the University's largest financial asset. Since March 2020, the Office of Finance, which manages the CEF, has followed an ESG Policy for the CEF. The ESG Policy provides the University with a more consistent and comprehensive approach to evaluating investment opportunities. Pitt’s ESG Policy states the University’s commitment to “fully integrating ESG factors into the University’s decision-making processes, on the core belief that supporting responsible business practices also supports strong investment outcomes.”

Though ESG factors vary based on the type, industry, and scope of an investment, the ESG Policy outlines how the Office of Finance considers a range of factors when evaluating investment risk. Those factors could include energy efficiency, hazardous materials management, climate change, water and land management, data protection and privacy, human rights, labor standards, product safety, accounting and audit standards, bribery and corruption, business ethics, and regulatory compliance.

As such, University's investment team discusses and documents ESG on every new investment commitment. Because the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees oversees the institution’s investments, it reviews application of environmental, social, and governance considerations to University investments.
Pitt CEF ESG Information & Resources - https://www.cfo.pitt.edu/divisions/office-finance/environmental-social-and-governance-esg-investment-considerations-pitt

Since 2018, several University committees and strategies have helped clarify and focus Pitt’s ESG efforts:

• 2018 – 2019 – Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Committee of Pitt faculty, staff, and students answered the Chancellor’s charge to explore and report on the potential impacts of SRI strategies on Pitt’s Consolidated Endowment Fund (CEF) investments.
• FEBRUARY 2020 – Pitt’s Board of Trustees (BOT) adopted a SRI Screening Process for how the University should consider proposed CEF investment exclusions.
• MARCH 2020 – University’s Office of Finance released its ESG Policy for the CEF. Developed by the University’s Office of Finance and shared with the Board’s Investment Committee, the ESG Policy clarifies further the University’s approach to integrating considerations of ESG factors (including related risks and value-creation opportunities) into its decision-making processes. Many of the factors now labeled “ESG factors” have been an essential element of the University’s investment processes for years. ESG Policy: https://www.cfo.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/esgpolicyfinal3-25-20_0.pdf
• 2020 – 2021 – Pitt’s BOT activated the SRI Screening Process and created the 2020-21 Board of Trustees Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels, whose report on “whether, to what extent, and via what methods the University, in its Endowment, should consider divestment from fossil fuels in existing and/or future investments” was adopted in full by the BOT in February 2021 (details below).
• 2022 – University released its first ESG Report (for fiscal year 2021), hosted on a brand new CEF webpage. In an effort to increase transparency regarding the CEF and application of the ESG policy, enhance awareness about the CEF, and advance dialogue on this important topic, Pitt’s new Chief Investment Officer regularly met with key student leaders and is speaking at various University forums.
• 2023 – University released its second ESG Report (for fiscal year 2022), including updates on fossil fuel exposure, the ESG policies of external investment managers, and the use of proxy voting.

2020-21 AD HOC COMMITTEE ON FOSSIL FUELS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

At its June 26, 2020 meeting, the University of Pittsburgh’s Board of Trustees activated the SRI Screening Process it adopted in February 2020 to create an "Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels" of the Board of Trustees that studied whether the University should divest its endowment from fossil fuels. The Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels was chaired by Board Member Dawne Hickton (Pitt Law ’83), is comprised entirely of Board members, and reports to the Board Chairperson and Chancellor.

Following extensive consultations over six months with members of the University community, representatives of peer institutions, and financial experts, the Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels delivered its draft report of findings and options to Board Chairman Thomas E. Richards on January 15, 2021.

Over the course of six months, the Committee held 12 meetings that included 11 interviews with nine subject matter experts, accepted online public comment submission over a one-month period, and reviewed a substantial number of background reference documents and materials submitted to the Ad Hoc Committee via public comment. The Ad Hoc Committee also held two Open Forums for members of the University community and the general public on October 28, 2020, and October 30, 2020; transcripts from both Forums are available online.
To read Forum transcripts: https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/committee-fossil-fuels/public-forums

On February 26, 2021, the Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels' report was accepted by the Board of Trustees in full, including all findings and options, which will now be implemented by the University (including greater transparency into Endowment holdings and a 2021 ESG Report). At that time, the Board of Trustees dissolved the Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels.

Learn more about the 2020-21 Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels of the Board of Trustees: https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/fossil-fuels

Membership in two separate committees spanning 2021 through present are summarized below:
1) Board of Trustees Investment Committee
2) 2020-21 Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels of the Board of Trustees

FALL 2023 BOARD OF TRUSTEES INVESTMENT COMMITTEE MEMBERS

• COMMITTEE CHAIR - Edward J. Grefenstette, Member, Board of Trustees
• Michael A. Bryson, Emeritus Member, Board of Trustees
• David C. Frederick, Member, Board of Trustees
• Robert M. Hernandez, Emeritus Member, Board of Trustees
• Dawne S. Hickton, Member, Board of Trustees
• Marlee S. Myers, Member, Board of Trustees
• John T. Tighe III, Member, Board of Trustees
• Adam C. Walker, Member, Board of Trustees
• Michael G. Wells, Member, Board of Trustees
• Ilia Murtazashvili, Faculty Representative
• Linda Tashbook, Faculty Representative
• Andrew Stephany, Staff Representative
• Matthew Jurich, Student Representative
• Justin Thomas, Student Representative
• Jeffer Choudhry, Chief Investment Officer, Committee Liaison (Staff)

BOT Investment Committee webpage - https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/investment-committee

2020-21 MEMBERS OF THE AD HOC COMMITTEE ON FOSSIL FUELS OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH

Created in June 2020 and meeting into 2021, the University of Pittsburgh’s Board of Trustees's Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels had the following members:

• CHAIR - Dawne S. Hickton, Member, Board of Trustees
• Sundaa Bridgett-Jones, Member, Board of Trustees
• Edward J. Grefenstette, Member, Board of Trustees
• Diane P. Holder, Member, Board of Trustees
• John A. Maher III, Member, Board of Trustees
• Marlee S. Myers, Member, Board of Trustees
• Herbert S. Shear, Member, Board of Trustees

Senior University executive staff who participated in discussions included:
• Chancellor Patrick Gallagher
• Dr. Kathy W. Humphrey, Senior Vice Chancellor of Engagement and Secretary of the Board of Trustees.
• Narahari Sastry, Senior Vice Chancellor and Chief Financial Officer (Senior Administrator Liaison to the Ad Hoc Committee).

The Ad Hoc Committee's Liaison Support Team included:
• Natalie Carter, Office of Finance
• Kimberly L. Honath, Office of the Secretary
• Dr. Aurora Sharrard, Director of Sustainability for the University

2020-21 Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels of the Board of Trustees webpage - https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/fossil-fuels

• January 2021 – Board of Trustees Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels provides its report to Board Chair.
• February 2021 – BOT adopts Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels’ reporting, including all findings and options, including the following actions:
» Choose to not apply a negative screen to the CEF with respect to fossil fuels.
» Apply University’s ESG Policy to every investment decision.
» Develop and implement a strategy to seek investments that help reduce, avoid, and eliminate greenhouse emissions.
» Monitor and report on the CEF’s current and projected exposure to fossil fuel investments.
» Publish an annual ESG Report highlighting how ESG has been applied to the CEF while ensuring strong financial returns while updating fossil fuel investments.
• 2022 – University released its first ESG Report (for fiscal year 2021), hosted on a brand new CEF webpage. In an effort to increase transparency regarding the CEF and application of the ESG policy, enhance awareness about the CEF, and advance dialogue on this important topic, Pitt’s new Chief Investment Officer regularly met with key student leaders and is speaking at various University forums.
• 2023 – University released its second ESG Report (for fiscal year 2022), including updates on:
» The CEF’s fossil fuel exposure.
» The CEF’s approach to direct engagement with underlying companies in which the endowment holds investments and the use of proxy voting.
» 87% of the CEF’s value is overseen by external investment managers with formal ESG policies or who take ESG considerations into account when making investments.
» Pitt does not currently have a separate SRI or ESG Committee. All CEF investment decision-making is governed by the BOT’s Investment Committee (including Trustee members, and faculty, staff, and student representatives) and the Office of Finance.

1) University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees Investment Committee - https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/investment-committee
2) Statement of Governance, Investment Objectives and Policies for the Consolidated Endowment Fund (2012, Amended 2019) - https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/osec-docs/2023_01_25_statement_of_governance_-_amended_and_restated_-_final.pdf
3) FY22 Pitt Consolidated Endowment Fund ESG Report (2023) - https://www.cfo.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/esg_report_2023-final_0.pdf
4) FY21 Pitt Consolidated Endowment Fund ESG Report (2022) - https://www.cfo.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/esg_report_final.pdf
5) “Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Investment Considerations at Pitt.” (2023) https://www.cfo.pitt.edu/divisions/office-finance/environmental-social-and-governance-esg-investment-considerations-pitt
6) 2021 Report of the Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels of the Board of Trustees of the University of Pittsburgh - https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/osec-docs/fossil_fuels/ad_hoc_committee_ff_report_final_w_appendix.pdf
7) 2020-21 Ad Hoc Committee on Fossil Fuels of the Board of Trustees - https://www.trustees.pitt.edu/fossil-fuels
8) 2020 BOT Resolution Adopting a Socially Responsible Investing Screening Process- https://www.cfo.pitt.edu/sites/default/files/sri-resolution-amended-at-board-unmarked.pdf
9) 2019 Chancellor Statement on SRI Committee's Report - https://former-chancellor-gallagher.pitt.edu/spotlight/next-steps-socially-responsible-investment-committee-report-response
10) 2018-19 Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Committee Report (2019) - https://www.sustainable.pitt.edu/2019-sri-committee-report/