Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 69.47
Liaison Ken Foster
Submission Date March 4, 2021

STARS v2.2

Vassar College
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.67 / 5.00 Cora Kenfield
Director of Sustainability
Office of Sustainability
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
1,000,000,000 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) 0 US/Canadian $
Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) or the equivalent 0 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:
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Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
0

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:
Full-Consequence-Investing-Memo.pdf

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:
Hall Capital, who manages Vassar's endowment, selects many of its fund managers with expectations that they integrate ESG principles and "Full Consequence Investing" (FCI) into their processes. To quote from their policy:
In strategies such as private equity, real estate and hard assets Hall Capital continues to find managers who:
 Believe that evaluating long-term business sustainability can improve performance over the long term
 Incorporate FCI factors into diligence, and document their policy and process
 Seek to improve long-term sustainability of companies or assets, recognizing that sustainability and
efficiency (leading to increased long-term profitability) are often closely linked
 Apply and track FCI-related metrics for underlying assets to track sustainability milestones and goals
 Proactively invest and/or drive change in companies or industries that address sustainability themes
 Have senior-level buy-in, dedicated senior resources in the sustainability area, and/or exhibit awareness of
FCI at all levels of the organization

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:
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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?:
Yes

A brief description of the divestment effort or negative screens and how they have been implemented:
Since 2006, Vassar has had a negative screen in place for companies that operate in Sudan.

Approximate percentage of endowment that the divestment effort and/or negative screens apply to:
0.50

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:
Our endowment management firm, Hall Capital, is a signatory to the UN PRI

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:
Hall Capital Partners LLC, whose policies are listed above, currently manages Vassar's endowment, substantiated in our annual IRS filings: https://financeandadministration.vassar.edu/docs/990-2016.pdf

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.