Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 81.96
Liaison Lindsey Lyons
Submission Date March 1, 2024

STARS v2.2

Dickinson College
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.61 / 3.00 Dave Walker
VP for Finance and Administration
Finance and Administration
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
428,900,000 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories:
Value of holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g., renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 72,000,000 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) 23,300,000 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 $

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

A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:
Endowment data as of 9/30/2020.

Investments in sustainable industries includes investments in companies that meet criteria for sustainability developed by Dickinson's Sustainable Investment Group. Included are companies with activities focused in areas such as renewable energy and energy infrastructure, environmental services, LEED certified construction and real estate, exemplary ESG performance and/or membership in the following initiatives: RE100, Task Force on Climate-Related Disclosures, Science Based Targets Initiative, C2ES and CERES.

Investments in "sustainability investment funds" include investments in the Investure Global Equity - Sustainability Series plus investments in a Low Carbon Exchange Traded Fund (ETF). The Investure Global Equity - Sustainability Series was created In June 2010 by Investure in response to requests made by Dickinson and two other Investure clients seeking opportunities for investments that advance sustainability. Sectors targeted for investment of the Series include renewable energy, energy storage, LEED certified real estate, water conservation, and greenhouse gas emission reduction.

The method and criteria for identifying investments as sustainable are detailed online: https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20052/sustainability/3958/dickinson_sustainable_investment_group_dsig/2.

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
22.22

Part 2. Investor engagement

Sustainable investment policy 

Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
No

None
A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
Investment Belief Statement_1.pdf

None
The sustainable investment policy:
---

None
Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
No

A brief description of how the sustainable investment policy is applied:
---

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?:
Yes

None
A copy of the proxy voting guidelines or proxy record:
Investure Consortium Recommended Proxy Voting Principles.pdf

None
A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:
Investure, which acts as the investment office for Dickinson’s pooled endowment, has a proxy voting policy that recommends to the fund managers who hold the rights to vote proxy resolutions that they support resolutions that promote reasonable best practices in corporate governance and environmental and social responsibility. The policy was developed by all members of the Investure Consortium, including Dickinson. The policy is communicated to fund managers annually.

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

Examples of how the institution has engaged with corporations in its portfolio about sustainability issues during the previous three years:
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Divestment efforts and negative screens

Does the institution participate in a public divestment effort and/or have a publicly available investment policy with negative screens?:
No

A brief description of the divestment effort or negative screens and how they have been implemented:
---

Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
---

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:
Dickinson College pools its endowment with a consortium of 11 other institutions under the management of Investure, LLC. The consortium members and Investure personnel share best practices for endowment management, including incorporation of ESG and ethical considerations in investment decisions. Dickinson, Middlebury, and Smith Colleges created the Sustainability Advisory Group (SAG) to advise Investure about our institutions ESG values and priorities. The SAG consists of Investment Committee members and CFOs from the three schools. The SAG has been a catalyst for dialogue with Investure and other consortium members about sustainable investment, advocating for creation and expansion of sustainable investment options, development of an investment beliefs statement that addresses ESG concerns, exploration of metrics for assessing ESG performance, and creation of learning opportunities for students. These efforts resulted in creation and later expansion of the Investure Global Equity Fund Sustainability Series, adoption of an investment beliefs statement by Investure that addresses EGS and ethical considerations, adoption of a proxy voting policy that addresses ESG concerns, and regular reporting of ESG and sustainability investments.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable investment efforts is available:
http://www.dickinson.edu/homepage/600/investing_in_sustainability

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Dickinson's total endowment includes pooled and non-pooled assets. The value of Dickinson's total endowment is reported in PRE-4. It includes and is larger than Dickinson's pooled endowment funds. The investment pool reported in PA 10 is the amount of pooled endowment funds managed for Dickinson by Investure as of September 30, 2020. It is less than the endowment figure reported for PRE-4 because it excludes non-pooled assets.

Investing in Sustainability, overview: https://www.dickinson.edu/homepage/600/investing_in_sustainability

Method and criteria for identifying investments as sustainable: https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20052/sustainability/3958/dickinson_sustainable_investment_group_dsig/2.

Dickinson Sustainable Investment Group: https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20052/sustainability/3958/dickinson_sustainable_investment_group_dsig

Timeline of sustainable investment activities and milestones: https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20052/sustainability/3959/timeline.

Investments in sustainable communities: https://www.dickinson.edu/info/20052/sustainability/2489/local_community.

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.