Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 74.27
Liaison Konrad Schlarbaum
Submission Date Feb. 15, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

University of Colorado Colorado Springs
PA-9: Sustainable Investment

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.97 / 4.00 Katie Dugan
Director of Investment Accounting
University of Colorado Foundation
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Option 1: Positive Sustainability Investment 

Does the institution wish to pursue Option 1 (positive sustainability investment)?:
Yes

Total value of the investment pool:
1,676,265,597 US/Canadian $

Value of holdings in each of the following categories:
Value of Holdings
Sustainable industries (e.g. renewable energy or sustainable forestry) 11,972,983 US/Canadian $
Businesses selected for exemplary sustainability performance (e.g. using criteria specified in a sustainable investment policy) 52,800,000 US/Canadian $
Sustainability investment funds (e.g. a renewable energy or impact investment fund) 11,972,983 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 loan funds that are 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:
***2017 Vision Ridge: Primarily equity investments in sustainable natural resources across water, agriculture, renewable power generation, energy efficiency, and transportation sectors. The strategy is diversified across yield generating core, asset-based, and asset repositioning strategies. KPCB Green Growth Fund: the fund focuses on finding, funding, and accelerating green solutions to the world's climate crisis. the fund supports companies that have already entered a phase of growth. Turner Charter School fund: The Fund’s strategy is to develop charter school campuses through adaptive re-use, in generally urban locations where real estate values are depressed and the need for charter school facilities is significant, and ultimately sell the campuses back to the operator (or to a third party) for a significant risk-adjusted return to the Fund.

Percentage of the institution's investment pool in positive sustainability investments:
4.58

Option 2: Investor Engagement 

Does the institution wish to pursue Option 2 (investor engagement)?:
Yes

Sustainable Investment Policy 

Does the institution have a publicly available sustainable investment policy?:
Yes

None
A copy of the sustainable investment policy:
---

None
The sustainable investment policy:
Per the University of Colorado Foundation Shareholder Responsibility Guidelines, "The University of Colorado Foundation, to the degree to which it can reasonably evaluate the impact of a proposition, will attempt to vote for propositions which seek to eliminate or reduce the social injury caused by a company's activities to the degree that there is no negative economic impact to the Foundation's assets."

None
Does the institution use its sustainable investment policy to select and guide investment managers?:
Yes

None
A brief description of how the policy is applied, including recent examples:
***2017 The OCIO provides the Foundation's Shareholder Responsibility Guidelines to the underlying managers upon subscription. The underlying managers perform proxy voting, and the OCIO monitors their proxy voting policies and procedures.

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?:
Yes

None
A copy of the proxy voting guidelines or proxy record:
---

None
A brief description of how managers are adhering to proxy voting guidelines:
2017. Per the University of Colorado Foundation Shareholder Responsibility Guidelines, "The University of Colorado Foundation, to the degree to which it can reasonably evaluate the impact of a proposition, will attempt to vote for propositions which seek to eliminate or reduce the social injury caused by a company's activities to the degree that there is no negative economic impact to the Foundation's assets." http://www.cufund.org/wp-content/themes/cufoundation/images/financial/CUF%20Shareholder%20Responsibility%20Guidelines%205-09.pdf

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?:
Yes

None
Examples of how the institution has engaged with corporations in its portfolio about sustainability issues during the previous three years:
None specifically with individual corporations.

Negative Screens / Divestment Efforts 

Does the institution have a publicly available investment policy with negative screens?:
Yes

None
A brief description of the negative screens and how they have been implemented:
***2017 Per the University of Colorado Foundation Shareholder Responsibility Guidelines, "The University of Colorado Foundation, to the degree to which it can reasonably evaluate the impact of a proposition, will attempt to vote for propositions which seek to eliminate or reduce the social injury caused by a company's activities to the degree that there is no negative economic impact to the Foundation's assets.

None
Approximate percentage of the endowment that the negative screens apply to:
100

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:
N/A

Optional Fields 

The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
http://www.cufund.org/news/cu-foundation-publications/investment-updates/

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Note: Endowment for the the institution is part of the larger CU system. It is all managed by the CU Foundation.

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.