Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 45.28
Liaison Nina Bisbee
Submission Date Sept. 22, 2023

STARS v2.2

Bryn Mawr College
PA-9: Committee on Investor Responsibility

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.50 / 2.00 Nina Bisbee
Director
Facilities Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have a formally established and active committee on investor responsibility (CIR) or equivalent body?:
Yes

The charter or mission statement of the CIR or other body which reflects social and environmental concerns or a brief description of how the CIR is tasked to address social and environmental concerns:
Framework for Considering and Resolving Divestment Questions

When reviewing petitions for divestment of the College’s investments from certain types of entities (e.g., fossil fuel companies, gun manufacturers), the Board of Trustees and its Committee on Investment Responsibility must bear in mind that the Board’s principal duty is to safeguard the well-being of the College, promote its mission as an institution of higher learning, and steward its finances for the present and the future. Its work must be pursued in light of the responsibilities of the Board’s Investment Subcommittee, which oversees the College’s endowment. The Investment Subcommittee has a responsibility to provide a return on investment over time that supports at least a constant proportion of the College’s operating budget and preserves the purchasing power of the endowment for future generations of students and educators.

Because the endowment is well-diversified, it connects the College to, and gives the College a stake in, a large number of companies engaged in diverse industries, many of which could give rise to divestment petitions. When considering whether to divest from the College’s investments in certain types of entities, a central question for the Board and its Committee on Investment Responsibility is whether the proposed change to the College’s investment strategy would significantly reduce investment returns and/or would undermine the College’s ability to fulfill its primary educational mission.


Approved by the Committee on Investment Responsibility, March 10, 2016
Approved by the Board of Trustees, May 7, 2016

Does the CIR include academic staff representation?:
No

Does the CIR include non-academic staff representation?:
Yes

Does the CIR include student representation?:
No

Members of the CIR, including affiliations and role:
The Committee includes Board Members, the Chief Investment Officer, and the Secretary of the College.

None
Examples of CIR actions during the previous three years:
In February of 2021, the Board Committee on investment responsibility held an open meeting with the community to discuss endowment investing; this meeting in particular responded to community questions about any investments in military contractors and prisons.

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s committee on investor responsibility is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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