Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 54.80
Liaison Daniel Dixon
Submission Date March 1, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Maine
PA-9: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.33 / 4.00 Karina Graeter
Sustainability Coordinator
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution wish to pursue Option 1 (positive sustainability investment)?:
No

Total value of the investment pool:
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Value of holdings in each of the following categories:
Value of Holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g. renewable energy or sustainable forestry) ---
Businesses selected for exemplary sustainability performance (e.g. using criteria specified in a sustainable investment policy) ---
Sustainability investment funds (e.g. a renewable energy or impact investment fund) ---
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or the equivalent ---
Socially responsible mutual funds with positive screens (or the equivalent) ---
Green revolving loan funds that are funded from the endowment ---

A brief description of the companies, funds, and/or institutions referenced above:
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Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
0

Does the institution wish to pursue Option 2 (investor engagement)?:
Yes

Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
Yes

A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
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The sustainable investment policy:
From “University of Maine System Investment Guidelines and Objectives Managed Investment Pool (Including Endowments) Approved by Investment Committee June 14, 2018 - STATEMENT OF GOALS AND OBJECTIVES”: Companies that include environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into their decision making process may benefit from improved long term value creation. As a result, the Committee will consider ESG principles and incorporate ESG analysis into investment decisions such as asset allocation and manager selection. “From RESPONSIBILITIES - investment consultant”: ESG Consideration: The consultant must be a signatory to the Principles for Responsible Investment, and take ESG factors into consideration when advising on asset allocation and manager selection.

Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
Yes

A brief description of how the policy is applied, including recent examples:
ESG considerations are integrated into the decisions of whether to select investment managers. For example, at the June 2018 Investment Committee Meeting, the committee reviewed the current Bank Loan manager, Guggenheim, and noted concerns regarding the firm which stem from the SEC (Securities and Exchange Committee) investigation. Bain Capital presented their Bank Loan strategy to the Committee for consideration as a replacement to Guggenheim. Bain Capital highlighted how their investments are managed with ESG considerations. The Committee elected to terminate Guggenheim given the risks associated with the SEC investigation and allocate those funds to Bain Capital.

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

A copy of the proxy voting guidelines or proxy record:
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A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:
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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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Does the institution have a publicly available investment policy with negative screens?:
Yes

A brief description of the negative screens and how they have been implemented:
From “University of Maine System Investment Guidelines and Objectives Managed Investment Pool (Including Endowments) Approved by Investment Committee June 14, 2018” “EXCLUDED INVESTMENTS” Certain investments are ineligible for inclusion within this Pool: 1. Coal Companies – separate account managers shall not invest in coal companies. Since initiation of this negative screen the UMS monitored investment pool has entirely divested from direct investment in coal companies.

Approximate percentage of the endowment that the negative screens apply to:
60

Does the institution engage in policy advocacy by participating in investor networks and/or engage in inter-organizational collaborations to share best practices?:
Yes

A brief description of the investor networks and/or collaborations:
UMaine is a founding member of the intentional endowments network (IEN), whose mission is to support colleges, universities, and other mission-driven tax-exempt organizations in aligning their endowment investment practices with their mission, values, and sustainability goals without sacrificing financial returns (http://www.intentionalendowments.org/university_of_maine).

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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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.