Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 67.16
Liaison Scott Doyle
Submission Date Oct. 25, 2022

STARS v2.2

Ithaca College
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.33 / 3.00 Scott Doyle
Director
Energy Management and Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
345,762,401 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories:
Value of holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g., renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 6,308,492 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) 68,308,600 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:
The Ithaca College assets are held in two investment pools – the main endowment and the sustainable endowment. All assets are held in pooled investment vehicles managed by third party managers. While the main endowment has sustainable investments, the sustainable endowment specifically seeks to invest in entities which balance growth and profitability with the sustainable characteristics outlined in the investment policy statement.

Existing fund managers investing in sustainable fields and/or sustainable business practices represent over 85% of assets within the sustainable endowment, and 13% of assets in the main endowment. This assessment is based on proprietary diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics developed by Prime Buchholz. The goal is to analyze high quality managers who are diverse and ESG friendly, as well as have DEI and ESG policies in place for continued future growth and development. Currently, 65 of the pooled funds implement ESG factors into their review and selection process of investments, while 35 have well articulated ESG policies in place. 54 funds are UN PRI signatories, representing approximately 65% of the investment managers. This demonstrates the commitment by the current managers to incorporate ESG factors into the investment decision making process.

The endowment further has notable investments in the renewable energy industry. Here, managers are principally pursuing greenfield development or brownfield redevelopment of solar, hydro, and wind projects enhanced by battery storage systems. Funds target stand-alone battery storage solutions, re-purposing of natural gas power plants, with battery storage systems to facilitate wind, hydro, and solar power production, as well as opportunistically investing in renewable service businesses. This plays a critical role in the continued decarbonization of the energy sector.

Ithaca College attempts to limit exposure to investments with negative impacts on the environment. Therefore, the sustainable endowment portfolio has virtually completely divested from fossil fuels with exposure of less than 0.2%, while the main endowment has limited exposure of less than 2.7%. As a result, total portfolio exposure to fossil fuels is less than 2.5%.

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
21.58

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:
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None
The sustainable investment policy:
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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:
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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?:
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:
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Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
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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:
The College is involved in the following through its investment advisor: UN Principles for Responsible Investment, Intentional Endowments Network, US Forum for Sustainable and Responsbile Investment(US SIF), and the Mission Investors Exchange.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable investment efforts is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
IC_Questions_as_of_6.30.2022.pdf

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.