Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 77.34
Liaison Sally DeLeon
Submission Date Feb. 27, 2022

STARS v2.2

University of Maryland, College Park
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.09 / 5.00 Emily Hightower
Sustainability Coordinator
Environmental Safety, Sustainability, and Risk
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
2,100,000,000 US/Canadian $

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) 104,000,000 US/Canadian $
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or the equivalent 0 US/Canadian $
Socially responsible mutual funds with positive screens (or the equivalent) 1,700,000 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 System of Maryland Foundation (USMF) invests about $104 million from its endowment in public equity strategies featuring active engagement on material environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. USMF also invests around $1.7 million in an Exchange Traded Fund reducing carbon intensity of global equity index exposure.

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
5.03

Part 2. Investor engagement

Sustainable investment policy 

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

None
A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
ESG-USMF-Statement-FINAL.pdf

None
The sustainable investment policy:
---

None
Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
Yes

A brief description of how the sustainable investment policy is applied:
The Foundation maintains its 2016 commitment not to make any direct investments in companies on the Carbon Underground 200 (also known as the Carbon Tracker 200) list, which is a list of the top 100 public coal companies globally and the top 100 public oil and gas companies globally, as ranked by the potential carbon emissions content of their reported reserves. In addition, effective starting February 2020, the Foundation ceased allocating capital to managers that invest primarily in fossil fuel extraction, and it will allow existing investments in existing managers to run off. The Foundation may, consistent with its fiduciary duty, continue to make tactical investments in managers pursuing resource-related strategies which, in the Foundation’s judgment, do not pose a material risk to the Endowment. The Foundation will continue to pursue investments in renewable and alternative energy sources and related activities that it believes will meet the long-term risk and return objectives of the Endowment.

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:
---

None
A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:
---

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:
The University System of Maryland Foundation (USMF) does not hold direct investments in individual companies and therefore would not have the opportunity to file or co-file a shareholder resolution or submit a letter about social or environmental responsibility to a company in which it directly holds investments.

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:
The Foundation maintains its 2016 commitment not to make any direct investments in companies on the Carbon Underground 200 (also known as the Carbon Tracker 200) list, which is a list of the top 100 public coal companies globally and the top 100 public oil and gas companies globally, as ranked by the potential carbon emissions content of their reported reserves. In addition, effective starting February 2020, the Foundation ceased allocating capital to managers that invest primarily in fossil fuel extraction, and it will allow existing investments in existing managers to run off. The Foundation may, consistent with its fiduciary duty, continue to make tactical investments in managers pursuing resource-related strategies which, in the Foundation’s judgment, do not pose a material risk to the Endowment. The Foundation will continue to pursue investments in renewable and alternative energy sources and related activities that it believes will meet the long-term risk and return objectives of the Endowment.

Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
100

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 University System of Maryland Foundation is a member of the Intentional Endowments Network. The Intentional Endowments Network is an organization that supports colleges, universities and other tax-exempt organizations in aligning their mission, values and sustainability goals without sacrificing financial returns. It provides opportunities for education and training, peer networking, convening, thought leadership and information exchange.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable investment efforts is available:
https://www.usmf.org/statement-on-the-endowment-and-environmental-social-and-governance-factors/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
The information reported in this credit represents the market value at 2021 calendar year end; the Annual Report represents the market value as of 2021 fiscal year end (June 30, 2021).

In January 2015, several investment staff members traveled to New York to ring the closing bell for the New York Stock Exchange to mark the launch of a new product, seeded solely by the United Nations and the USM Foundation. The product, iShares MSCI ACWI Low Carbon Target ETF (Ticker: CRBN), seeks to maintain global stock exposure while reducing the carbon footprint of an investment portfolio.

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.