Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.69
Liaison Stephanie MacPhee
Submission Date April 6, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Dalhousie University
PA-8: Committee on Investor Responsibility

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.00 / 2.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have a formally established and active committee on investor responsibility (CIR) that makes recommendations to fund decision-makers on socially and environmentally responsible investment opportunities across asset classes?:
Yes

None
The charter or mission statement of the CIR or other body which reflects social and environmental concerns or a brief description of how the CIR is tasked to address social and environmental concerns:
Dalhousie has a Board of Governor’s Finance, Audit, Investment and Risk Committee. At this committee, investment decision are made in accordance with University policy. Environmental, Social and governance principles (ESG) are incorporated in the University’s investment policy. Five clauses in the policy highlight specific action around ESG that this committee addresses. The Finance, Audit, Investment and Risk Committee is “composed of not less than three and not more than six members of the Board. Because of the matters before the Committee, its members shall generally be external members of the Board.” Membership currently includes administrative staff, alumni, senate, community members. The Board of Governors have released reports on divestment as well as the Senate. A new account has been established by the University to receive donations that are invested in Low Carbon Investment options.

Does the CIR include staff representation?:
Yes

Does the CIR include faculty representation?:
Yes

Does the CIR include student representation?:
No

Members of the CIR, including affiliations and role (e.g. student, faculty, staff, alumni):
Mr. Aubrey Palmeter (Chair) Board Representative / Nominee Mr. Jody Forsyth Board Nominee Mr. Paul Conrod Non-Board, External Dr. Greg Hebb Senate Nominee Dr. David Cameron Non-Board, retiree Mr. Ron Pink, Q.C. DFA Nominee Mr. Ian Nason (Vice-President, Finance & Administration) Senior Officer for Liaison and Member Support: Secretary/Staff: Mr. Colin Spinney (Treasurer) Ms. Nancy-Beth Foran (Assistant Treasurer) Consultant: Mr. Bob Mitchell (in association with Segal Rogerscasey Canada)

None
Examples of CIR actions during the previous three years:
Low Carbon Investment Option: https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/dept/pension/Spending%20Guidelines%20Low%20Carbon%20Option%202016.pdf Posting publicly trade securities: https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/dept/financial-services/Reports/Investment%20Holdings/HOLDINGS%20SUMMARY%20-%201Q17.pdf

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
https://www.dal.ca/dept/financial-services/reports.html

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Dalhousie has a Board of Governor’s Investment committee. ESG principles are incorporated in the University’s investment policies. Committee members include representatives of the Board and Senate. Terms of reference are posted online. In 2014 the BOG received a report on the topic of divestment from the Investment Committee (https://www.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/dept/university_secretariat/Board-of-Governors/Website%20Reports/DALHOUSIE%20Final%20IC%20Report%20on%20Divestment%20Nov252014.pdf.). After discussion, the BOG voted to accept the report’s recommendation to reject a proposed divestment policy. Divestment was revisited by an ad hoc senate committee on fossil fuel divestment in 2016. Their report can be found here: https://www.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/dept/university_secretariat/Senate%20Docs/ad%20hoc%20committeee%20-%20Divestment%20Report%20Jan%2027,%20vs3.pdf

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