Santa Clara University
PA-9: Sustainable Investment

Fixed income, US Equities and Private Equity funds.

It is available at the Investment Office at the request of various University stakeholders.

The Socially Responsible Investing guidelines are provided by staff to the Fund investment managers, who are requested to invest according to these principles. It is recognized that the implementation of these guidelines may not be possible in certain asset classes that are important to the Fund’s investment strategy. These cases typically involve partnerships, mutual funds or commingled funds which do not allow for social screening. Sustainable investments, as with all investments under consideration, must meet suitable risk-adjusted hurdles before being considered for investment. An example is an investment that was made in a non-US agricultural startup company that brings the latest sustainable farming technology to various regions around the world, helping improve crop efficiency (yields) while lifting thousands out of poverty, and expected to generate a suitable risk-adjusted return for shareholders.

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Several of our funds have a dedicated sustainability officer, whose purpose is to consider environmental, public health, safety, and social issues associated with target companies when evaluating whether to invest in a particular company or entity, as well as during the period of ownership. This structure allows the funds to help their underlying investments (companies), through appropriate governance structures, to improve and grow in the area of long-term sustainability performance, which ultimately benefits multiple stakeholders, including environmental, social and governance issues.

The investment policy does include negative screens, but it is not publicly available. It is available at the Investment Office at the request of various University stakeholders Guided by the values associated with its mission, Santa Clara University invests its resources in institutions that are, at one and the same time, consistent with the "prudent person" principle, capable of generating a rate of return consistent with the University's Investment Policies statement, and socially responsible in their policies and practices. Socially responsible investments should positively contribute to the common good and be guided by the traditional Catholic ethical considerations. Balancing the consistent-life ethical principles and the "prudent person" principle will require judgment on the part of the Investment Office, the Investment Committee and each money manager. General guiding principles for investing are as follows: avoid companies whose primary products are directly destructive of human life (e.g. abortion, euthanasia); avoid companies involved with governments involved in gross human rights abuses; avoid companies which consistently practice racial, ethnic, religious or gender discrimination; avoid companies whose primary business is nuclear weapons research, production, deployment and servicing; avoid companies who have been repeatedly cited for gross ecological violations.

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