RESPONSIBLE
INVESTING

The UBC community is a recognized leader in advancing sustainability into all areas of campus life. As a result, environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations remain central to UBC Investment Management’s investment process.

OUR
APPROACH

UBC Investment Management is deeply committed to ensuring the principles of responsible investing are embedded in our investment decision making. As a signatory to the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), we seek to continuously enhance our integration of responsible investing and ESG considerations throughout our investment process, from our asset mix and portfolio construction to manager selection and monitoring.

We share the views that climate change is an existential threat to the planet. We are keenly focused on reducing the carbon emissions exposure of the portfolios we manage to mitigate risks to long-term investment returns and align our portfolios with the opportunities arising out of the transition to a more sustainable economy.

We believe financial investments and commitments can be used to influence corporate behaviours, protect and ensure basic human rights, and lead to a more inclusive society.

We also believe in our ability to use our influence and investments to advance the positive and productive evolution of good corporate governance.

ESG considerations, together with a relentless focus on delivering the financial returns within the funds we manage, help to inform our approach to responsible investing.

OUR
COMMITMENTS

Working on behalf of the funds we manage, we are working to help both the UBC Board of Governors and Staff Pension Plan Boards meet and exceed the following targets and commitments:

We regularly report progress on our commitments to the UBC Investment Management Board, the UBC Board of Governors, the SPP Board and publicly in our Responsible Investment Report.

RESPONSIBLE
INVESTING STRATEGY

Aligned with the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment and our investment implementation model utilizing external managers, we developed a comprehensive Responsible Investing Strategy that reflects the key objectives of the fund we manage relating to responsible investing. 

The key pillars of UBC Investment Management’s Responsible Investing Strategy are:

DIVESTMENT

Mitigate climate risk in our managed portfolios by reducing exposure to greenhouse gas emissions. Our Responsible Investing Strategy is aligned with UBC’s broader climate action commitments, which include eliminating all holdings in fossil fuel companies from the Endowment by 2030 or sooner and investing in companies that are working to meet the terms of the Paris Agreement. We have expanded our lens by measuring the carbon footprint and intensity of our investments.

ACTIVE OWNERSHIP

Integrate responsible investing goals into our active ownership approach by engaging with our managers on portfolio holdings where high ESG risks are inherent in the sector or business to ensure they are adequately considered in their responsible investing process. We also seek to partner with managers that engage directly with portfolio companies on ESG-related issues and vote in a manner that promote advancement of good ESG practices.

DISCLOSURE

Encourage and increasingly expect our managers to formally disclose and report on both the ESG risks and opportunities in their portfolios that will better inform both investors and portfolio companies.

MEASUREMENT

Define a balanced set of performance indicators to guide the overall process, driving investors and portfolio company management actions that advance the University’s sustainability goals.

LEADERSHIP

Amplify UBC Investment Management’s impact as a thought leader by influencing our managers to adopt responsible investing policies and best practices.