Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 66.65
Liaison John Gardner
Submission Date Nov. 27, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
PA-10: Investment Disclosure

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.74 / 1.00 John Gardner
Sustainability Planning & Policy Analyst
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution make a snapshot of its investment holdings available to the public?:
Yes

A copy of the investment holdings snapshot:
The website URL where the holdings snapshot is publicly available:
Percentage of the total investment pool included in the snapshot of investment holdings at each of the following levels of detail:
Percentage (0-100)
Specific funds and/or companies 73.96
Investment managers and/or basic portfolio composition (i.e. asset classes), but not specific funds or companies 26.04

Does the institution engage in proxy voting?:
No

Are proxy voting records included in the snapshot of investment holdings?:
No

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

For this credit, investments are made at both the UWM Foundation level as well as the UW System level. We have included both for consistency with credit language and although UW System Long Term investments are made on behalf of the entire UW System (UWM receives a portion of disbursements from these funds), those investments are organized to support the UW System and reflect its investment policies. In the "Percentage of Total Investment Pool" table, the 73% number refers to UW System Long Term investments (which list specific funds) and the 26% number refers to UWM Foundation holdings (which are arranged by asset class). The percentage is reflective of the particular holding in relation to the total of all holdings (e.g. 26.04% is for UWM Foundation Holdings (~$157M out of the total combined holdings of ~$605M). The following paragraph summarizes the two sets of investments.

UWM Foundation holdings are made available to the public on a yearly basis and UW System level investments are made available on a quarterly basis. UWM Foundation's investments (found at https://uwm.foundation/financials/reports) are arranged by asset class, but not specific funds or companies (the 26.04% number listed above-$157,618,943). The Foundation’s investments are held in bank-administered trust funds. Management has granted the investment managers discretionary authority over investment decisions based on the Foundation’s investment policy. Information regarding assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of June 30, 2018 can be found on page 22-23 of the FY18 Consolidated Financial Statements for money market funds, fixed-income mutual funds, fixed income securities, equity mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, common and preferred stock, and limited partnership interests.
UW System Long Term Fund shapshots (the 73% number above) include delineation of specific funds for each asset class (e.g. Public Equities ($215,881,073) comprised of BlackRock MSCI ACWI Index Fund B, BlackRock EAFE Currency Hedged Equity Index Fund B, and BlackRock Emerging Markets Gree Fund B). In total, the various asset classes of UW System Long Term Funds delineated by specific funds and companies include Private Markets, Public Equities, Fixed Income Assets, Inflation Sensitive Assets (totaling $448,827,972 as of 3/31/19). Information on UW System Long Term funds (including specific funds invested in) can be found at (https://www.wisconsin.edu/trust-funds/investments-and-reports/).

Proxy Voting
The University of Wisconsin System trust funds investment policy can be found at (https://www.wisconsin.edu/trust-funds/download/UW-System-Trust-Funds-Investment-Policy-Statement---Approved-April-6-2018.pdf). In 2018, the UW System voted to entrust the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) as investment manager for the trust funds. SWIB also serves as the investment manager of the Wisconsin Retirement System, the 8th largest public pension fund in the US. SWIB's Investment guidelines, policies, and roles and responsibilities as laid out by the UW System can be found on Page 25 of the State Investment Fund & Separately Managed Managed Funds Investment Policy and Guidelines document at (https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/69fc6d_d3a96d273ac5492f80f5275367f01048.pdf

SWIB 2019 Proxy Voting Guidelines are available at (https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/69fc6d_c9d055403f544ac9af62276e9f1e4a3c.pdf)
No credit was taken for two reasons. 1)UWM Foundation has no proxy guidelines or votes published and 2)for the UW System, it was not clear whether proxy votes taken by SWIB pertained just to the WRS or to the WRS as well as UW System Long Term Funds.


For this credit, investments are made at both the UWM Foundation level as well as the UW System level. We have included both for consistency with credit language and although UW System Long Term investments are made on behalf of the entire UW System (UWM receives a portion of disbursements from these funds), those investments are organized to support the UW System and reflect its investment policies. In the "Percentage of Total Investment Pool" table, the 73% number refers to UW System Long Term investments (which list specific funds) and the 26% number refers to UWM Foundation holdings (which are arranged by asset class). The percentage is reflective of the particular holding in relation to the total of all holdings (e.g. 26.04% is for UWM Foundation Holdings (~$157M out of the total combined holdings of ~$605M). The following paragraph summarizes the two sets of investments.

UWM Foundation holdings are made available to the public on a yearly basis and UW System level investments are made available on a quarterly basis. UWM Foundation's investments (found at https://uwm.foundation/financials/reports) are arranged by asset class, but not specific funds or companies (the 26.04% number listed above-$157,618,943). The Foundation’s investments are held in bank-administered trust funds. Management has granted the investment managers discretionary authority over investment decisions based on the Foundation’s investment policy. Information regarding assets measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of June 30, 2018 can be found on page 22-23 of the FY18 Consolidated Financial Statements for money market funds, fixed-income mutual funds, fixed income securities, equity mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, common and preferred stock, and limited partnership interests.
UW System Long Term Fund shapshots (the 73% number above) include delineation of specific funds for each asset class (e.g. Public Equities ($215,881,073) comprised of BlackRock MSCI ACWI Index Fund B, BlackRock EAFE Currency Hedged Equity Index Fund B, and BlackRock Emerging Markets Gree Fund B). In total, the various asset classes of UW System Long Term Funds delineated by specific funds and companies include Private Markets, Public Equities, Fixed Income Assets, Inflation Sensitive Assets (totaling $448,827,972 as of 3/31/19). Information on UW System Long Term funds (including specific funds invested in) can be found at (https://www.wisconsin.edu/trust-funds/investments-and-reports/).

Proxy Voting
The University of Wisconsin System trust funds investment policy can be found at (https://www.wisconsin.edu/trust-funds/download/UW-System-Trust-Funds-Investment-Policy-Statement---Approved-April-6-2018.pdf). In 2018, the UW System voted to entrust the State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB) as investment manager for the trust funds. SWIB also serves as the investment manager of the Wisconsin Retirement System, the 8th largest public pension fund in the US. SWIB's Investment guidelines, policies, and roles and responsibilities as laid out by the UW System can be found on Page 25 of the State Investment Fund & Separately Managed Managed Funds Investment Policy and Guidelines document at (https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/69fc6d_d3a96d273ac5492f80f5275367f01048.pdf

SWIB 2019 Proxy Voting Guidelines are available at (https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/69fc6d_c9d055403f544ac9af62276e9f1e4a3c.pdf)
No credit was taken for two reasons. 1)UWM Foundation has no proxy guidelines or votes published and 2)for the UW System, it was not clear whether proxy votes taken by SWIB pertained just to the WRS or to the WRS as well as UW System Long Term Funds.

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.