| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.16 |
| Liaison | Mike Versteege |
| Submission Date | June 24, 2020 |
| Executive Letter | Download |
University of Alberta
PA-9: Sustainable Investment
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
0.91 / 4.00 |
Ron
Ritter Director, Treasury & Investments Financial Services |
Does the institution wish to pursue Option 1 (positive sustainability investment)?:
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) | 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 | 92,088,000 US/Canadian $ |
| Socially responsible mutual funds with positive screens (or the equivalent) | 0 US/Canadian $ |
| Green revolving loan funds that are funded from the endowment | 0 US/Canadian $ |
A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:
$92 million of the University of Alberta's short-term investment portfolio as at December 31, 2019 was invested with one government guaranteed community-based financial institution whose mandate is to serve the local and regional economy.
Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
Does the institution wish to pursue Option 2 (investor engagement)?:
Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
The sustainable investment policy:
UNIVERSITY FUNDS INVESTMENT POLICY
https://policiesonline.ualberta.ca/PoliciesProcedures/Policies/University-Funds-Investment-Policy.pdf
The University of Alberta's University Funds Investment Policy includes a section on Responsible Investment, as follows:
6.1 Responsible Investment
As a responsible owner, the University will regularly engage and collaborate with its active investment managers on matters related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks and opportunities.
Specifically the University will:
- Integrate the consideration of ESG factors into the investment process as an additional criterion in the selection and ongoing monitoring of active investment managers.
- Regularly review and track the engagement of active investment managers with their investee companies and their proxy voting records on ESG related issues.
- Obtain and evaluate annual disclosure from all active investment managers on how ESG factors are incorporated into their investment decision making processes.
- Collaborate with other institutional investors and industry associations on ESG matters where appropriate.
- Disclose and publish a detailed listing of its investments annually, and report on ESG matters in the Investment Committee's annual report.
Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
A brief description of how the policy is applied, including recent examples:
To date, the University of Alberta has undertaken the following actions to apply its Responsible Investment policy:
- Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risk is a criteria in each manager search we undertake.
- We receive regular reporting from most of our existing managers on ESG.
- We regularly discuss ESG with our managers.
Examples of how the university's investment managers have engaged with companies that they invest in, or initiatives being undertaken by the companies they invest in, can be found in our last two annual reports (2018 and 2019), available at the links below:
Investment Reports website:
https://www.ualberta.ca/vice-president-finance/financial-services/investments-treasury/investment-reports/index.html
2019 Annual Report:
https://www.ualberta.ca/vice-president-finance/media-library/ualberta/vice-president-finance/financial-services/investments/annual-report/annual-report-2019-website.pdf
2018 Annual Report:
https://www.ualberta.ca/vice-president-finance/media-library/ualberta/vice-president-finance/financial-services/investments/prior-years/bic-annual-report-2018.pdf
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:
Management regularly reviews with investment managers their proxy voting records on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) related issues.
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:
The university’s investment managers are expected to vote on all shareholder matters with the objective of maximizing long-term shareholder value, which by its nature should take into account matters of sustainability of business, environmental and labour practices.
Does the institution have a publicly available investment policy with negative screens?:
A brief description of the negative screens and how they have been implemented:
Approximate percentage of the endowment that the 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:
Not to date but would do so in the appropriate circumstances.
The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.