Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.95
Liaison Kathleen McCaig
Submission Date June 14, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Berea College
PA-9: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.61 / 4.00 Kathleen McCaig
Sustainability Coordinator
Operations & Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Option 1: Positive Sustainability Investment 

Does the institution wish to pursue Option 1 (positive sustainability investment)?:
Yes

Total value of the investment pool:
1,100,000,000 US/Canadian $

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

If any of the above is greater than zero, provide:

A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:
In July 2015, Berea College committed 10% of its 1.1 billion dollar endowment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) strategies. ESG ratings are provided by MSCI's (a leading provider of investment decision support tools) Intangible Value Assessment (IVA) creating research, ratings, and analysis of companies’ risks and opportunities using environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. Through an in-depth analysis of material issues for the industry and rigorous benchmarking against industry peers, MSCI ESG IVA can reveal hidden risks or opportunities that may not be captured by conventional financial analyses. The portfolio contains hundreds of companies from various industries with a high ESG IVA rating.

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
9.09

Option 2: Investor Engagement 

Does the institution wish to pursue Option 2 (investor engagement)?:
No

Sustainable Investment Policy 

Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
Yes

None
A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
Berea-College-Investment-Policy-Final-Approved-Text-2-23-13.pdf

None
The sustainable investment policy:
---

None
Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
Yes

None
A brief description of how the policy is applied, including recent examples:
A copy of the College's investment policy is provided to all investment managers and the Berea College Board of Trustees has a committee for investment oversight. The investment managers of the endowment portfolio are overseen by the College's outsourced chief investment officer firm.

Proxy Voting 

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

None
A copy of the proxy voting guidelines or proxy record:
---

None
A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:
---

Shareholder Resolutions 

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

None
Examples of how the institution has engaged with corporations in its portfolio about sustainability issues during the previous three years:
---

Negative Screens / Divestment Efforts 

Does the institution have a publicly available investment policy with negative screens?:
Yes

None
A brief description of the negative screens and how they have been implemented:
The investment managers evaluate all companies in the ESG group.

None
Approximate percentage of the endowment that the negative screens apply to:
10

Investor Networks 

Does the institution engage in policy advocacy by participating in investor networks and/or engage in inter-organizational collaborations to share best practices?:
Yes

None
A brief description of the investor networks and/or collaborations:
Berea College has connections to the Responsible Endowments Coalition for the purpose of sharing best practice and ideas.

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

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.