| Overall Rating | Gold - expired |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 67.87 |
| Liaison | Nurit Katz |
| Submission Date | March 6, 2020 |
University of California, Los Angeles
PA-9: Committee on Investor Responsibility
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.00 / 2.00 |
Nurit
Katz Chief Sustainability Officer Sustainability |
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 University of California’s Board of Regents (“the Regents”) makes all investment policy decisions regarding the UC endowment. The Regents include discussion of social and environmental concerns in their regular meetings, thereby fully integrating sustainability into investment discussions and decisions. In addition, the public is invited to participate in the Regents’ meetings and to voice questions, concerns and suggestions around social and environmental issues. When social or environmental concerns are raised, the Regents typically refer the matter to the Chief Investment Officer for follow-up action. The Chief Investment Officer reports directly to the Regents, thus adding a measure of oversight and accountability around sustainable investing beyond most separately constituted committees on investor responsibility.
The Board of Regents’ policy regarding sustainability in endowment investments states in relevant part:
The Office of the Chief Investment Officer shall incorporate environmental sustainability, social responsibility, and governance (ESG) into the investment evaluation process as part of its overall risk assessment in its investments decision making. ESG factors are considered with the same weight as other material risk factors influencing investment decision making.
The Office of the Chief Investment Officer uses a proprietary sustainability framework to provide core universal principles that inform the decisions and assist in the process of investment evaluation. The Office of the Chief Investment Officer manages the [endowment] consistent with these sustainability principles. The Framework can be found on the Office of the Chief Investment Officer website in the sustainability section.
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:
Maria Anguiano, Regent & Vice-Chair of the Investments Committee
Richard C. Blum, Regent
Laphonza Butler, Regent
Michael Cohen, Regent
Gareth Elliott, Regent
Cecilia Estolano, Regent & Board Vice-Chair
Howard "Peter" Guber, Regent
George Kieffer, Regent
Sherry L. Lansing, Regent
Richard Leib, Regent
Hadi Makarechian, Regent
Eloy Ortiz Oakley, Regent
Lark Park, Regent
John A. Pérez, Regent & Board Chair
Janet Reilly, Regent
Richard Sherman, Regent & Chair of the Investments Committee
Jonathan "Jay" Sures, Regent
Hayley Weddle, Student Regent
Charlene Zettel, Regent
Gavin Newsom, Ex Officio Regent
Eleni Kounalakis, Ex Officio Regent
Anthony Rendon, Ex Officio Regent
Tony Thurmond, Ex Officio Regent
Janet Napolitano, Ex Officio Regent
William Um, Ex Officio Alumni Regent
Christine Simmons, Ex Officio Alumni Regent
Mary Gauvain, Faculty Representative
Kum-Kum Bhavnani, Faculty Representative
Kate Klimow, Staff Advisor
Examples of CIR actions during the previous three years:
Integration of Environmental and Social Factors: On numerous occasions over the past three years, the UC Regents have discussed and expressed support for integrating environmental and social factors into endowment investment decisions. With regard to fossil fuel investments, the UC Regents have expressed support for ramping down endowment investments (as a means of “de-risking” the portfolio) and ramping up investment in clean energy and other sustainable technologies, in accordance with the UC Framework for Sustainable Investing. In 2018, the Regents voted to amend their Investment Policy Statement to require that environmental and social factors be given the same weight as other material risk factors.
Public Access and Comment: Our CIR’s thrice-annual meetings are open to the public and allow public comment. In the past three years, members of the public including students, faculty, staff and alumni, have provided comment on a wide range of environmental and social issues pertaining to UC investments, including for example: climate change and fossil fuel divestment, human rights in Turkey and the private prison industry. In particular, students from Fossil Free UC have, on numerous occasions, engaged directly with the Chief Investment Officer and the Regents at these meetings.
Adding Resources to ESG Integration: In 2019, UC Investments hired its first Director of ESG Integration, who is fully dedicated to integrating environmental, social and governance issues into UC Investment’s processes and decisions.
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:
The full investment policy can be found here: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/policies/6102.pdf
The full investment policy can be found here: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/policies/6102.pdf
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