Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 67.63
Liaison Konrad Schlarbaum
Submission Date March 1, 2024

STARS v2.2

University of Colorado Colorado Springs
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.02 / 5.00 Charlene Laus
Sr. Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
University of Colorado Foundation
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
2,601,090,827 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories:
Value of holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g., renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 58,500,000 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 0 US/Canadian $

If any of the above is greater than zero, provide:

A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:
The University of Colorado Foundation's Long Term Investment Pool has 19.3% in assets that would be considered sustainability focused as of 6/30/23. That is comprised of 13.5% in public companies that are also in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and 5.8% in private market holdings (like solar, wind, etc.). The index is comprised of global sustainability leaders as identified by S&P Global through the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA). It represents the top 10% of the largest 2,500 companies in the S&P Global Broad Market Index based on long-term economic, environmental, and social criteria.

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
2.25

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?:
No

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:
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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:
Foundation Investment Policy has included a policy to screen and divest from companies engaging in business practices to the detriment of Sudanese citizens since 2007.

https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/images/olls/2007a_sl_149.pdf
https://www.cu.edu/regents/policy-13

Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
42

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:
The Foundation’s Investment Manager participates in the Intentional Endowments Network, a peer network of college and university, and serves on the Membership Committee of Confluence Philanthropy, a network of ESG/impact focused institutional investors. Agility investment staff also participates in a series of conferences focused on ESG/impact topics throughout the year, including CleanTechIQ, Confluence Philanthropy, and the Investment Diversity Exchange.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable investment efforts is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The documentation and data for this credit represents the entire University of Colorado system that the University of Colorado Foundation holds, including Boulder, Denver, Anschutz, and Colorado Springs campuses. This information was provided by the University of Colorado Foundation.

The CU Treasury Pool investments were not included in this credit due to the challenges and guesswork of breaking down the mutual fund investments.

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.