Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 65.90
Liaison Sarah Stoeckl
Submission Date March 6, 2020

STARS v2.2

University of Oregon
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.81 / 4.00 Laura Chen
Investment Operations Coordinator
UO Foundation
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
960,000,000 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories:
Value of holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g., renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 54,300,000 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) 13,600,000 US/Canadian $
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or the equivalent 800,000 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:
As a rule, the University of Oregon Foundation - a separate legal entity from University of Oregon - does not share the names of firms and funds it invests it on behalf of the University of Oregon. Generally, the investments described above range from organic farming, sustainable timber management, wind farms, solar installations, coal to natural gas power plant conversions, and biomass energy production. Some additional details are listed below.

Sustainable industries (e.g., renewable energy or sustainable forestry)
1. $10mm sustainable forestry in PNW and SE US largely for the construction industry, mgr winning numerous awards for stewardship
2. $35mm in healthcare revolution moving to patient health maintenance rather than illness mitigation, integrating technology for better, more efficient, more holistic treatment and care of individuals
3. $3mm in urban community housing solving cost of living issues for people in otherwise cost prohibitive cities such as SF

Sustainability investment funds (e.g., a renewable energy or impact investment fund)
1. $6mm in conversion of coal to gas fired power plants primarily in Midwest as well as remediation of mothballed power plants
2. $13mm in commercial and residential distributed solar power installations largely in CA, MA, NY
3. $15mm in organic west coast farming of citrus fruits, table grapes and nuts

Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or the equivalent
1. $5mm in Mexican low income housing projects
2. $5mm in Brazilian factoring co supporting borrowing needs of SMEs that are shut out of traditional bank financing
3. $2mm in Peruvian farm land creation through infrastructure development
4. $1mm in local community business development in our community across a wide swath of business but importantly we are supplying capital to capital starved local entrepreneurs

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
7.16

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?:
Yes

A brief description of how the sustainable investment policy is applied:
Every manager gets viewed through the lens of ESG both at their investment level but also just as importantly how they manage their institution

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?:
No

A brief description of the divestment effort or negative screens and how they have been implemented:
---

Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
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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?:
No

None
A brief description of the investor networks and/or collaborations:
---

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:
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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.