Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.46
Liaison Lisa Kilgore
Submission Date March 20, 2015
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Cornell University
PA-14: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.11 / 4.00 Cody Danks Burke
Investment Officer
Investment
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total value of the investment pool:
6,209,226,226 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories::
Value of Holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g. renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 91,540,059 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) 12,826,818 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 loan funds that are funded from the endowment 0 US/Canadian $

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

Cornell is an investor in US timber lands that are certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. This category of holdings also includes investments in renewable energy, environmental credit creation and clean technologies.

Sustainable Investment Funds: Cornell has investments in a renewable energy fund and an environmental credit fund.

All information is as of June 30, 2014.


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:

Cornell’s practice for addressing constituent concerns relating to sustainability issues and endowment investments is to bring those issues to the attention of the University’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO). If the CFO determines that a valid concern has been raised, he or she will arrange for the constituency to express its concerns to Senior Administration, including the University President, who will then determine whether the issue should be brought to the Investment Committee.


Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
No

A brief description of how the policy is applied, including recent examples:
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Does the institution's sustainable investment policy include negative screens?:
No

A brief description of the negative screens and how they have been implemented:
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Approximate percentage of the endowment that the negative screens apply to:
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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:

In fiscal year 2012, the University conducted a screen of its portfolio to determine its exposure to seven companies involved in producing oil in Sudan as part of an on-going divestment program. The University subsequently sent letters to the relevant investment managers notifying them of the University's Sudan divestment policy. For managers with investments that Cornell controls directly, the University requested that the appropriate securities be divested.


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:
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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.