| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 73.33 |
| Liaison | Maria Dahmus |
| Submission Date | Nov. 30, 2023 |
University of St. Thomas
PA-10: Sustainable Investment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.24 / 4.00 |
Zachary L.
Smith Senior Investment Analyst Investment Office |
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) | 26,710,911 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) | 0 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:
As of June 30, 2022, the endowment has roughly 4% of the endowment invested in sustainable energy holdings. The endowment invests in one investment firm who is dedicated solely to sustainability comprising 11% of the sustainable holdings. The remaining holdings are spread across five investment firms who invested in renewable energy holdings ranging across Solar, Wind, and Waste-to-Energy but isn't core to their investment strategy.
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:
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 university uses its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers. During the hiring process, preference will be given to sustainability focused managers with market returns across assets class that are similar to the returns of managers who are not sustainability focused or diverse, based on a reasonable benchmarking period.
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:
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 doesn't engage directly with companies. The University staff does engage directly with the external investment manager's regarding their efforts in the sustainability issues.
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:
The University's Board of Trustees approved a "Fossil Fuel Divestment Policy" and "SRI Policy" in November of 2021 (approved again in August of 2023, along with other IPS amendments). The fossil fuel divestment effort will take place over the course of the next 3 + years. The implementation plan is to reduce fossil fuel exposure by 1% in the subsequent years.
In August of 2022, the screens were applied to one investment manager comprising roughly 4% of the portfolio. As of July 2023, the screens have been applied to 2 investment managers comprising roughly 10.9% of the portfolio in the public equity portfolio, and 1 investment manager who promotes climate change (2.7% of portfolio) also in the public equity portfolio, and 1 sustainability focused manager in the private investment portfolio (0.09% of the total portfolio). This brings the total of fossil fuel free portfolio to 13.7% as of July 2023.
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:
The University's Investment Office staff are frequent participants in industry ESG events (i.e. Cambridge Associates 2022 Impact Investing Conference, Vision Ridge Sustainable Investment Strategies AGM, and various virtual ESG focused conferences).
The University was a member of the Intentional Endowments Network from 2020-2022.
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:
All values as of June 30, 2022 (except where noted).
All values as of June 30, 2022 (except where noted).
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.