Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.49
Liaison Jun-Ming Chen
Submission Date Oct. 29, 2021

STARS v2.2

National Tsing Hua University
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 3.00 / 3.00 Fu-Ren Lin
Professor
Institute of Service Science, National Tsing Hua University
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
48,287,838 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) 39,582,658 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:
Member of Dow Jones Sustainability World Index or Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets Index.

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
81.97

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:
PA10-620_NTHU_Invests_According_to_the_Principles_of_Social_Responsibility_and_SustainabilityA_Statement.pdf

None
The sustainable investment policy:
In response to the investment policy of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), ETFs and individual stocks in the name of coal, petroleum, steel industry, cement industry, and plastics industry will be excluded from March 10, 2021.

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:
NTHU investment process actively incorporates ethical and social considerations to help achieve its goal of maximizing support for the University’s social responsibility. We believe that sustainability can help us increase our risk-adjusted long-term returns by managing long horizon risks.

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:
---

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:
NTHU has adopted an investment policy that precludes directly owning securities in specific companies such as coal, petroleum, iron, cement, and plastics industries.

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:
NTHU has adopted an investment policy that precludes directly owning securities in specific companies. The resolution means that NTHU will avoid investments in the coal, petroleum, iron, cement, and plastics industries.

Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
100

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:
NTHU participates in regular phone surveys, in which various universities provide updates on ESG issues under consideration at their respective institutions and discuss varying approaches to ESG issues.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable investment efforts is available:
https://dud.site.nthu.edu.tw/var/file/348/1348/img/2675/NTHUStatement.pdf

Additional documentation to support the submission:
PA10_Sustainable_Fund_NTHU.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
NTHU is a national university, and its annual operating funds are mainly subsidized by the government (Ministry of Education), which is different from the Endowment Fund. NTHU funding in 2021 is US$269,204,774.3, including government subsidies and a small amount of self-raised income.

Therefore, the amount of total value of the investment pool reported here is lower than the endowment size. The total value of the investment pool: US$ 48,287,838, including:

1. Securities Donation: US$17,140,538
2. Equity shares acquired as a result of research achievements or the capitalized value of proprietary technology: US$2,379,646
3. Seasoned equity offering: US$1,023,414
4. Investing in Stocks: US$21,620,618
5. Investing in ETFs: US$6,123,623

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.