Toronto Metropolitan University
PA-10: Sustainable Investment

Brookfield Renewable Bond: Brookfield Renewables operates one of the world’s largest publicly traded platforms for decarbonization technologies. The diversified portfolio consists of hydroelectric, wind, solar, distributed energy and sustainable technology solutions across five continents. Ontario Provincial Green Bonds: Ontario’s Green Bonds capitalize on the Province’s ability to raise funds at low interest rates and serve as an important tool to help finance public transit initiatives, extreme-weather resistant infrastructure, and energy efficiency and conservation projects. Quebec Provincial Green Bonds: Green Bonds issued by the government raise capital for specific projects that generate tangible benefits with regard to protecting the environment, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions or adapting to climate change in Québec. Funded projects comply with Québec’s environmental protection statutes and regulations, and demonstrate concrete benefits for the environment. Fiera Diversified Real Assets Fund is comprised of ~23% Climate Infrastructure Investments (Renewables, Energy from Waste, and Environmental).

TMU’s Investment Policy for Non-Expendable Funds includes a section related to Environmental, Social and Governance Factors, specifically that “The funds’ active investment managers may consider all qualitative and quantitative factors affecting financial performance of existing and potential investments, including environmental, social and governance factors. An investment manager’s ability and desire to incorporate these factors into their investment selection process may be used as part of the decision criteria when evaluating investment opportunities.” The university’s investment manager for its endowment funds, Fiera Capital, also integrates Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) factors in the fundamental decision-making process of each Fiera Capital investment strategy. The way in which ESG factors influence the decision-making process is, however, unique to each strategy. An exclusionary filter is applied to the investment universe and a company is deemed ineligible if it derives more than 10% of its revenue, either directly or indirectly, from the following products: adult entertainment, alcohol, firearms, gambling, military contracting, nuclear power, tobacco, and cannabis. https://www.torontomu.ca/policies/policy-list/investment-non-expendable-funds/

The university includes requirements and questions related to social initiatives and responsible investing as part of investment manager RFP searches. This section forms part of the overall scoring of the RFP.

Yes, the university engages in proxy voting via its investment manager, Fiera Capital. A copy of Fiera Capital’s Proxy Voting Guidelines is attached.

As part of the university’s participation in UNIE, TMU has signed the following engagement letters: Dollarama - The purpose of this engagement was to understand the company’s progress towards fulsome Scope 1-3 GHG emissions disclosure, and the company’s plans to align its actions and targets with a 1.5°C scenario (by committing to achieving net-zero GHG emissions by 2050). Fiera Capital - The purpose of this broader engagement request was to discuss how Fiera is acting more specifically on climate risks and opportunities, human rights, and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in its investment stewardship activities and its operations. The following are also examples of engagements that Fiera Capital, the university’s investment manager for its endowment portfolio, has led. Integrated Fixed Income Engagements included the following: 50 meetings with management teams in Q1 2023; 72 in fiscal year 2022; 95 in fiscal 2021; 92 in fiscal 2020) Q1 2023: Meeting with the Real Estate sector in a series of ESG focused meetings to share views on best practices in the sector and encourage issuers to set ambitious goals and targets (including committing to science-based targets for net zero emissions across scope 1, 2 and 3). 2022: Holding several engagements with utilities and power generation companies to discuss ESG initiatives, emission reduction targets, and reporting. Q4 2022: Engagement with a Canadian Province on regulatory matters, including the province’s interference in its local electricity market and overriding of pending decisions on pricing. 2021: Engagement with 10 of Canada’s largest Energy companies to discuss GHG emissions and relevant disclosures. Q2 & Q3 2020: Engagement with a leading owner and operator of senior residences in Canada to review ESG related risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the company’s business model/financial profile. Additional details can be found in the attached Fiera Capital IFI ESG Efforts - Q2 2023 document. Equity engagements included the following: 21 operational (non- SASB) engagements 52 SASB engagements broken out by the following sustainability dimensions: Leadership and Governance: 3 Business Model and Innovation: 16 Environment: 15 Human Capital: 5 Social Capital: 13 Additional details can be found in the attached Fiera Capital Equities Engagement Efforts document.

The university has an exclusionary filter that is applied to 100% of the Fiera Balanced EFT Fund in which the endowment portfolio is invested. A company is deemed ineligible if it derives more than 10% of its revenue, either directly or indirectly from “sin stocks” including the following products: adult entertainment, alcohol, firearms, gambling, military contracting, nuclear power, tobacco, and cannabis. The university also places importance on engagement, as described in the next section.

TMU is part of the University Network for Investor Engagement (UNIE), which is a climate-aligned investor engagement program that has been established by the Shareholder Association for Research & Engagement (SHARE) and aims to use member universities' voices to address and influence climate-related risks and opportunities within their investment portfolios. TMU’s involvement in UNIE serves as a complement to the engagement process of our investment manager, Fiera Capital. At Fiera Capital, ongoing dialogue with the management of the businesses they have invested in on behalf of clients extends beyond short-term financial metrics and towards long-term strategy, brand building, customer loyalty, capital allocation, compensation, and much more. As long-term investors, engagement is Fiera’s preferred method of advocating on ESG disclosure and practices. Fiera Capital interacts with and participates in a number of industry working groups focused on ESG reporting standards, including the following: Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) Climate Commitment Canadian Coalition for Good Governance (CCGG) Canadian Fixed-Income Forum (CFIF) Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Climate Action 100+ Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB) Impact Management Norms by Impact Frontiers Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM) Responsible Investment Association (RIA) Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Task Force on ClimateRelated Financial Disclosures (TCFD) UK Net Zero Carbon Buildings Standard United Nations Principles for Responsible Investing (UN PRI) See “Pillar IV” starting on page 71 of the attached 2022 Fiera Capital Sustainable Investing Report for additional details and descriptions of each of the above working groups.