| Overall Rating | Silver |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 53.65 |
| Liaison | Mike Harrington |
| Submission Date | Dec. 17, 2021 |
The New School
PA-9: Committee on Investor Responsibility
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Does the institution have a formally established and active committee on investor responsibility (CIR) or equivalent body?:
The charter or mission statement of the CIR or other body which reflects social and environmental concerns or a brief description of how the CIR is tasked to address social and environmental concerns:
The primary mission of the Committee shall be to develop and adopt principles of SEG responsible investment practice. The Committee shall endeavor to enact these Principles during its first year of operation. These Principles may address issues including, but not limited to, human rights, labor practices, environmental protection, equity, diversity, discrimination, and corporate disclosure. Insofar as possible, it shall be developed through open, well publicized forums and consultations with members of The New School community, as well as those outside the University with expertise in related areas.
The Committee shall advise the Trustees on SEG issues relating to investments in the University's endowment portfolio and recommend, through the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees, measures including but not limited to:
- The voting of specific shareholder-initiated proxy resolutions for publicly traded companies in which The New School directly holds shares;
- The guidance, if any, that The New School’s investment managers should be given to avoid selection of investment positions that could be deemed inconsistent with the University’s mission;
Such advice shall be provided regarding industries and corporate policies or practices determined to cause substantial social injury or substantial environmental harm. It may also focus on specific companies.
The Committee shall also advise the Trustees on investments in SEG wise responsible corporations and funds that exemplify SEG responsibility as outlined in the Committee's principles of SEG responsible investment practice.
Does the CIR include academic staff representation?:
Does the CIR include non-academic staff representation?:
Does the CIR include student representation?:
Members of the CIR, including affiliations and role:
The Committee has two Staff, Faculty, Students, & Trustees voting members. As well as two Finance and Business non-voting support staff members.
COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Faculty Representatives
Charles Allison, ACIR Chair, Associate Professor of Professional Practice in Finance, Milano School of Policy, Management, and Environment
University Board of Trustee Representatives
Robert Hoerle, Managing Partner, Stone Run Capital, LLC
Bevis Longstreth, Retired Partner, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Staff Representatives
Susan Sawyer, Associate General Counsel
ADVISORY MEMBERS
Tokumbo Shobowale, Executive Vice President for Business and Operations
Linda Hirst, Senior Director of Investments, Treasury, and Risk Management
Larry Woods, Compliance and Risk Analyst
Examples of CIR actions during the previous three years:
Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign.
With encouragement from ACIR, The New School committed in 2017 to divest from its endowment all fossil fuel investments in coming years. As of 31 December, 2020, the University’s fossil fuel holdings are 0.31% of The New School’s endowment which compares favorably to the MSCI ACWI IMI benchmark of 1.26%.
In 2017, we launched NS EMIT. It is a Tool created by ACIR to measure the relative impact an organization’s public equities portfolio has on the global issue of climate change. As we continue to develop it, we decided to find some third party investment entities to share the Tool with and gain some insight into how they would use the Tool. During 2018, we exposed NS EMIT to the participants of NEXUS 201 Global summit in New York where it received attention from several portfolio managers. We continue to make the Tool available to endowment portfolio managers.
During the coming year we are hoping to again host New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, a New School alum to follow up on his 2018 visit to The New School, where he discussed ESG issues that relate to the New York State Common Retirement Fund. We are hoping to hear about the recent adoption of a goal to transition its approximate $220 billion fund portfolio to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. This process will include completion within four years of a review of investments in energy sector companies, using minimum standards to assess transition readiness and climate-related investment risk, with, where consistent with fiduciary duty, divestment of companies that fail to meet minimum standards.
Private Prison Divestment Movement:
The ACIR confirms for the sixth year in a row that the University’s endowment does not include investments in prison companies.
We’ve had tangible, measurable successes, but there is still more to do! We need the New School community’s help to advance the ACIR’s mission and expand The New School’s commitment to remain in the vanguard of innovation in higher education relating to climate action. I urge everyone from the community to get involved by engaging with the ACIR to help us reach our goals.
ACIR exercise proxy voting and participates in the conferences on socially responsible investing.
Website URL where information about the institution’s committee on investor responsibility is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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