Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 52.46
Liaison Andrew DeMelia
Submission Date May 11, 2022

STARS v2.2

Bryant University
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.04 / 3.00 Farokh Bhada
Assoc VP and Controller
Controller's Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Positive sustainability investment

Total value of the investment pool:
240,000,000 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 1,795,000 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 Archway Investment Fund was established in 2005 to provide Bryant University students with the opportunity to manage an investment portfolio following the principles used by financial professionals.

The initial investment in The Equity Fund was $200,000. Additional cash infusions of $500,000 total in four installments in 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2016 were provided to the Fund from the University. The program allows students to develop necessary skills and investment protocols to manage a currently-valued portfolio of approximately $1,300,000 (as of December 2018). $1,795,000 (as of June 2021)

The Fixed Income Fund was launched in Fall 2017 with an investment of $250,000 from the University and $250,000 from The Equity Fund. An additional $120,000 has been transferred from the Equity Fund to the Fixed Income Fund in 2020 and 2021. and is currently valued at approximately $500,000. The Fixed Income Fund is valued at June 30,2021 at $689,000.


Within The Equity Fund there is a focus on ESG.

ESG EMPHASIS
(Environmental, Social, and Governance analysis)

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
0.75

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:
---

None
The sustainable investment policy:
Sustainability has become an important consideration in how the Fund operates. The Fund is looking to include an ESG tilt on its investment strategy and start to focus on how ESG will affect the returns of companies. With the increasing popularity of socially responsible investing strategies, the AIF sees value and potential in evaluating a company’s corporate responsibility.

The Fund is utilizing possible methods for implementing ways to evaluate companies on these criteria, such as ESG scores and ratings, and qualitative analysis of a company’s sustainability. For ESG metrics, students run reports from Sustainalytics on each company they present for potential investment to address issues surrounding ESG. Furthermore, AIF has an ESG committee which consists of 5 students each semester who do in-depth research on ESG and present to the class to advance expertise on ESG trends.

None
Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
No

A brief description of how the sustainable investment policy is applied:
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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:
---

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:
---

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:
---

Additional documentation to support the submission:
PA_10_2021_AIF_Report.pdf

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
I have added more details on the Archway Fund in the file above.

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.