Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 72.29
Liaison Jonna Korpi
Submission Date Sept. 11, 2024

STARS v2.2

University of Minnesota, Duluth
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.46 / 5.00 Mindy Granley
Sustainability Director
UMD Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
2,194,237,868 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories:
Value of holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g., renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 20,583,978 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) 186,673,737 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:

BlackRock Low Carbon ETF, multiple BlackRock ESG Aware ETFs


Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
9.45

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:
policy_endowment_fund_updated2023.pdf

None
The sustainable investment policy:

The Board of Regents instituted a new policy 5 years ago that requires the Endowment Fund to report annually on the evaluation of investments related to sustainability and renewable energy. Additionally, the University shall consider environmental, social, and governance responsibilities in its investment decisions.This policy can be referenced here: https://regents.umn.edu/sites/regents.umn.edu/files/policies/Endowment_Fund.pdf


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 policy encourages proactive sourcing of sustainable investments and investments managed by emerging/minority-owned firms. The policy also paves the process for incorporation of ESG in the due diligence process.


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:

NA


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:

NA


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 University has adopted a phased reduction plan for the ~1% of legacy fossil fuel exposure in private markets strategies. Additionally, no new investments will be made in the Carbon Underground 200 companies, or sectors responsible for the exploration and production of fossil fuels. Finally, the university holds multiple ESG-aware mutual funds that, in addition to employing positive ESG screens, also employ negative screens for carbon-intensive industries and companies.


Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
86

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 is a UNPRI signatory, and the University's investment office participates in other investor networks to discuss and share best practices related to the investment policies of similarly sized institutions.


Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable investment efforts is available:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Investment happens at the U of M system level, therefore this data will be the same across all U of M campuses (Twin Cities, Duluth, Morris, Crookston, and Rochester). Values as of 06/20/23


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.