University of Connecticut
PA-9: Sustainable Investment

The UConn Foundation’s Investment Committee, in its role as a prudent steward of institutional assets, will be aware of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles as well as established Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) principles in its investment process. Within the context of its fiduciary responsibilities, including the duty to achieve maximized, risk-adjusted investment returns, the Investment Committee will consider such principles on an ongoing basis in the administration of the Foundation’s investment portfolio. Over the years, the UConn Foundation has invested in a number of opportunities that are both financially-rewarding and socially-impactful such as solar farms, sustainable farming, residential power storage devices, and coal exhaust capture technology. Next Generation Connecticut is Gov. Dannel P. Malloy’s initiative to greatly expand educational opportunities, research, and innovation in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines at UConn over the next decade. The shared goal of this initiative is to leverage the strength and resources of this University to build Connecticut’s future workforce, create jobs, and invigorate the State’s economy with sustainability in mind. UConn's contribution to Next Generation Connecticut includes increasing sustainable infrastructure on the Storrs Campus to provide areas for research labs and STEM related activities in . The initiative includes redesigning the streets on campus to decrease runoff, safely promote wildlife migrations, and promote greener modes of transportation such as walking, biking, and commuting with public transportation.

The Foundation’s investment policy is focused on governance, low volatility investment returns, institutional liquidity and investment manager selection. Issues that are controversial or relate to social issues are reviewed on a case by case basis to incorporate their potential long-term economic impacts through the monitoring of released quarterly reports from fund managers in relevant investments. The Foundation’s divestment policy is focused on reducing its overall exposure in holdings of companies with business operations in Sudan through the monitoring of released quarterly reports from fund managers across all asset classes. https://www.foundation.uconn.edu/2017/01/03/statement-on-socially-responsible-investing/

The Foundation uses the investment policy to select and guide investment managers. A recent example would be the divestment policy regarding Sudan, as detailed below.

The Foundation does not have any direct holdings of companies with which to file shareholder resolutions. All Foundation funds are in co-mingled funds with different fund managers. However, in response to the recent strides to encourage endowments to divest from fossil fuels, there have been letters of opinion to encourage the University of Connecticut to take the necessary actions to make sure the endowment portfolio is vetted for the ownership in fossil-fuel companies. For example, in response to the 350.org campaign, Dr. William Upholt (http://regenerativemedicine.uchc.edu/faculty/bios/upholt.html) wrote a letter to UConn President Herbst addressing concerns about responsible investing by UConn. The UConn Foundation states that there are no direct holdings or ownership of public companies who are direct producers of fossil fuels.

The Foundation has requested fund managers from different investment portfolios to consider divestment and to provide information on relevant holdings in order to track overall exposure to Sudan related holdings. The Foundation has reviewed its funds to monitor and gauge the extent of any holdings of fossil fuel companies or investments in the Sudan region through analysis and monitoring of quarterly reports. No direct holdings of fossil fuel producing companies exist.

There has been a lot of discussion over investing in renewable energy and divesting in carbon-based energy in a variety of investment networks and list-servs of which the Foundation is a member, especially by colleges and universities. The Foundation continues to monitor and discuss the situation with other similarly situated university fund managers to determine the most effective course of action. Additionally, the Foundation has worked with UConn student managed funds and the funds held by the Alumni Association to review their holdings for sustainability.

The UConn Foundation Investment Committee is actively drafting an updated Sustainable Investment Policy. The Foundation has engaged numerous student and faculty groups on campus to discuss concerns, preferences, and best practices around this topic.