Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 72.32
Liaison Merry Rankin
Submission Date Aug. 29, 2022

STARS v2.2

Iowa State University
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.20 / 5.00 Michael Wahlin
Asst Vp/Controller
ISU Foundation
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
1,526,700,000 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories:
Value of holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g., renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 0 US/Canadian $
Businesses selected for exemplary sustainability performance (e.g., using criteria specified in a sustainable investment policy) 97,668,825 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 $

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

A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:
Investment holdings were compared to the Dow Jones World Sustainability Index by the Foundation's independent consultant. This index is used to identify businesses with exemplary sustainability performance.

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
6.40

Part 2. Investor engagement

Sustainable investment policy 

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

None
A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
Long_Term_Pool_Investment_Policy_2022.pdf

None
The sustainable investment policy:
---

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

A brief description of how the sustainable investment policy is applied:
ESG (environmental, social, governance) information for each investment manager recommendation is provided and discussed with the foundation’s investment committee.

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:
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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?:
Yes

Examples of how the institution has engaged with corporations in its portfolio about sustainability issues during the previous three years:
Iowa Code, Chapters 12F, 12H and 12J prohibits the Board of Regents from investing in certain companies doing business in the Sudan and Iran or who boycott Israel. Regents institutions fully comply with this law, which became effective July 1, 2007 for Sudan holdings; March 1, 2012 for Iran holdings, and March 1, 2017 for companies who boycott Israel. The law requires the Board of Regents to scrutinize the business activities of companies doing business with Sudan and Iran or boycotting Israel in four general areas: military equipment, mineral extraction activities, oil-related activities, and power production activities. The Board of Regents uses the research services of ISS-Ethix to assist it in developing the list of scrutinized companies that is based on the criteria specified in Iowa Code chapters 12F, 12H and 12J. The University, through The Board of Regents, contacts the scrutinized companies and asks them to explain their business operations in these three countries. Each company has 90 days to respond. If a company is deemed to not meet the requirements of the law or does not respond to the request for information on their related activities within the 90-day period, they are placed on the Board of Regents' prohibited investment list. The Board of Regents updates this list quarterly, and companies can be added or removed based on the receipt of new information.

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?:
Yes

A brief description of the divestment effort or negative screens and how they have been implemented:
Iowa Code, Chapters 12F, 12H and 12J prohibits the Board of Regents from investing in certain companies doing business in the Sudan and Iran or who boycott Israel. Regents institutions fully comply with this law, which became effective July 1, 2007 for Sudan holdings; March 1, 2012 for Iran holdings, and March 1, 2017 for companies who boycott Israel. The law requires the Board of Regents to scrutinize the business activities of companies doing business with Sudan and Iran or boycotting Israel in four general areas: military equipment, mineral extraction activities, oil-related activities, and power production activities. The Board of Regents uses the research services of ISS-Ethix to assist it in developing the list of scrutinized companies that is based on the criteria specified in Iowa Code chapters 12F, 12H and 12J.

Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
14

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?:
No

None
A brief description of the investor networks and/or collaborations:
---

Optional Fields 

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:
In addition to the STARS criteria, to further track progression within a stratified sustainability investment performance tracking, the endowment portfolio is further split into two components: public equity (where transparency into specific stock holdings is reasonably available) versus alternative and other assets (where transparency is more difficult to ascertain due to the type of investments).

https://www.iowaregents.edu/media/cms/Regents_PublicFund_Iran_DivestmentR_C45ABAD8A9B2E.pdf

https://www.iowaregents.edu/media/cms/Divestment_Notice_updated_2018_62132E9458ED9.pdf

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.