| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 71.89 |
| Liaison | Isabel Savransky |
| Submission Date | Nov. 14, 2023 |
Ontario Tech University
PA-10: Sustainable Investment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
3.00 / 3.00 |
Isabel
Savransky Sustainability & Asset Planner Office of Campus Infrastructure and Sustainability |
Total value of the investment pool:
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) | 33,435,000 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 $ |
A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:
The University’s investment management company, PH&N leverages the extensive domestic and global investment management capabilities of their affiliate, RBC GAM. RBC GAM is a signatory to the United Nations Principles of Responsible Investing (“UN PRI”) and therefore incorporates environmental, social, and governance (“ESG”) factors in the investment process and decision-making for the assets under its management, and to the extent that such factors are financially material to the investment under consideration. RBC GAM, and by affiliation PH&N IC, are committed to being active and engaged investors, particularly as it relates to ESG issues. ESG factors are integrated into the investment process as they believe that ESG factors are non-traditional sources of both risk and opportunity and should form part of every fundamental assessment. Sensitivity of ESG issues may vary from industry to industry, which is why they believe it is important to integrate ESG into the company assessment rather than as a pre-screen or overlay. This facilitates engagement and ensures that ESG risks and opportunities can be incorporated into the fundamental valuation.
The degree to which ESG factors are relevant and material to an investment depends on the company, the industry in which it operates and the nature of the investment vehicle for which it is purchased. In general, PH&N encourages consideration of the following ESG factors when they have the potential to impact the value of our investment:
• Environmental: Environmental factors include the impact of a company’s activities on the climate, such as greenhouse gas emissions and the risks and opportunities presented by climate change, energy efficiency, pollution, water and waste management, site rehabilitation, biodiversity and habitat protection.
• Social: Social factors include human rights, community consent/impact, respect for indigenous peoples, employee relations and working conditions, discrimination, child labour and forced labour, health & safety and consumer relations.
• Governance: Governance factors include the alignment of interests between executives and shareholders, executive compensation, board independence and composition, board accountability, shareholder rights, transparency/ disclosure, anti-corruption measures, financial policies and the protection of private property rights.
Good corporate governance practices are particularly important for all of our investments across all industries and markets. We believe that companies with good governance structures are better able to focus on the company’s long-term, sustainable growth and pose less risk for shareholders. Good corporate governance is also essential to properly align the interests of management with those of shareholders. We believe that the quality of a company’s corporate governance is relevant to all other environmental and social factors, as poor management or disclosure of environmental or social risks and opportunities may indicate weak board oversight of risk, strategy and management and may also be a sign of poor management quality. For fixed income investments, the governance practices of an issuer (whether sovereign or corporate) may be material to creditworthiness and risk.
We recognize the need to be pragmatic when assessing some ESG factors, as legal or cultural differences in some markets may result in different accepted practices. We seek to understand each issuer individually and through the lens of local norms and the laws and regulations of the market in which it operates. However, we believe that there are some basic ESG principles that are applicable across all markets. Those include the need for a qualified and effective board that is accountable to shareholders, robust accounting and risk management systems, appropriate policies to address environmental and social risks and opportunities to the business, and policies and controls designed to ensure full compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. Principles applicable to sovereign issuers include appropriate anti-corruption measures and the protection of private property rights.
RBC GAM is a signatory to the UNPRI. RBC GAM’s annual Corporate Governance and Responsible Investing Report outlines all CGRI actions taken by investment teams for various strategies.
Latest edition is 2022 and is available here: https://www.rbcgam.com/documents/en/other/2022-ri-annual-report.pdf
Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
The sustainable investment policy:
Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
A brief description of how the sustainable investment policy is applied:
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?:
A copy of the proxy voting guidelines or proxy record:
A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:
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?:
Examples of how the institution has engaged with corporations in its portfolio about sustainability issues during the previous three years:
Does the institution participate in a public divestment effort and/or have a publicly available investment policy with negative screens?:
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:
Does the institution engage in policy advocacy by participating in investor networks and/or engage in inter-organizational collaborations to share best practices?:
A brief description of the investor networks and/or collaborations:
Our Investment Manager is a signatory to the UNPRI (UN- Principles for Responsible Investment) and therefore incorporates ESG in all investments in the portfolio.
https://www.rbcgam.com/documents/en/articles/approach-to-responsible-investment.pdf
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:
Part 2. Investor engagement
Sustainable investment policy:
Note that given the fact that the university uses the investment pool method, it is not practical for the Committee to directly engage individual companies on ESG related issues, either through dialogue or by filing shareholder resolutions. Subject to its primary fiduciary responsibility of acting in the best interests of the university and its stakeholders, and within the limits faced by an investor in externally managed pooled funds, the Committee will incorporate ESG factors into its investment process through the following methods:
Manager Selection and Reporting
The integration of ESG factors in the investment process will be a criterion in the selection, management and assessment of the Manager.
The Committee will require the Manager to provide regular and annual reporting on the incorporation of formal ESG factors in the management of their portfolios.
Proxy Voting:
Note that since the university does not directly invest in companies, proxy voting is delegated to the Manager. The Committee will encourage the Manager to incorporate into their proxy voting guidelines policies that encourage issuers to increase transparency of their ESG policies, procedures and other activities, and also to bring to the Committee’s attention any significant exposure through the Fund to a particular company, industry or nation that is facing a material ESG issue.
Part 2. Investor engagement
Sustainable investment policy:
Note that given the fact that the university uses the investment pool method, it is not practical for the Committee to directly engage individual companies on ESG related issues, either through dialogue or by filing shareholder resolutions. Subject to its primary fiduciary responsibility of acting in the best interests of the university and its stakeholders, and within the limits faced by an investor in externally managed pooled funds, the Committee will incorporate ESG factors into its investment process through the following methods:
Manager Selection and Reporting
The integration of ESG factors in the investment process will be a criterion in the selection, management and assessment of the Manager.
The Committee will require the Manager to provide regular and annual reporting on the incorporation of formal ESG factors in the management of their portfolios.
Proxy Voting:
Note that since the university does not directly invest in companies, proxy voting is delegated to the Manager. The Committee will encourage the Manager to incorporate into their proxy voting guidelines policies that encourage issuers to increase transparency of their ESG policies, procedures and other activities, and also to bring to the Committee’s attention any significant exposure through the Fund to a particular company, industry or nation that is facing a material ESG issue.
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.