Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 79.39
Liaison Yolanda Cieters
Submission Date March 5, 2021

STARS v2.2

Seattle University
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.51 / 3.00 Yolanda Cieters
Associate Director
CEJS
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
234,341,000 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) 0 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 500,000 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 in micro-loan fund (through Global Partnerships)

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
0.21

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?:
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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?:
Yes

A brief description of the divestment effort or negative screens and how they have been implemented:
In September 2018, the Seattle University Board of Trustees voted to divest the university’s $230 million endowment from fossil fuels within the next five years.
The actions will take place in two steps:

--By Dec. 31, 2020, to achieve a 50 percent reduction in the exposure to companies owning fossil fuel reserves in the marketable portion of the endowment portfolio.
--By June 30, 2023, to completely eliminate the exposure to companies owning fossil fuel reserves in the marketable portion of the endowment.

The divestment effort applies to all marketable assets (approximately 94% of the total portfolio as of 6/3/20).

Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
94

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:
--Active participation in the Intentional Endowment Network (IEN):
Example: SU faculty members participation in IEN panel "Investing in Sustainability: How to Leverage Your Institution's Endowment" at WOHESC 2021: https://www.wohesc.org/program/
Example: SU sustainability Manager participation in focus groups as part of IEN's "Sustainable Retirements Initiative."
--Presentations by SU representatives to share our institutions "Divestment" story (impetus, who championed it, stakeholders involved, process, and strategies used). For example: Presentation by Joseph Gaffney (member of Seattle University's Board of Trustees and SRI committee) at the Ignatian Family Teach-in for Justice in October 2020 (Oct 19-26, 2020) organized by the Ignatian Solidarity Network: https://ignatiansolidarity.net/iftj/

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable investment efforts is available:
https://www.seattleu.edu/finance-and-business-affairs/treasury-and-risk-management/sri/divestment/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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