Socially Responsible and Environmentally Sustainable Investments at Central Washington University

Document Type

Oral Presentation

Campus where you would like to present

Ellensburg

Event Website

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source

Start Date

16-5-2021

End Date

22-5-2021

Keywords

Sustainabilty, Diveristy, Investments

Abstract

Investors are increasingly playing an active role in influencing environmental and social impacts of companies and markets. Concerns with climate change and social movements have raised the prominence of corporate responsibility with their employees and investors alike. Shareholders promote disclosure transparency, corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability to help ensure a healthy economy and preserve sustainable long-term returns. Universities have joined this growing chorus of investors and have started to reevaluate their endowments to better fit their missions. This has been encouraged by a growing academic literature on socially and environmentally responsible investing suggesting that such strategies have performed as well or better than traditional approaches. In this study we analyze Central Washington University (CWU) financial investments and score them along environmental, social, and governance (ESG) categories. We then assess their financial performance, and compare it to potential alternatives with higher and lower ESG ratings. This research is conducted by the CWU Council on Investor Responsibility (CIR) subgroup that advises the University, through the office of the CFO, regarding environmental and social governance concerns that might influence the management of the University’s investments. The results of the study seek to provide transparency to University investment holdings and decisions, advise on relevant ESG-related investing issues to ensure the Universities holdings match its mission and values, advise the VP of Business and Financial Affairs on socially responsible investment policy issues by proposing written policies for the Board of Trustees’ consideration.

Faculty Mentor(s)

Toni Sipic

Department/Program

Economics

Additional Mentoring Department

https://cwu.studentopportunitycenter.com/socially-responsible-and-environmentally-sustainable-investments-at-central-washington-university/

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May 16th, 12:00 PM May 22nd, 12:00 PM

Socially Responsible and Environmentally Sustainable Investments at Central Washington University

Ellensburg

Investors are increasingly playing an active role in influencing environmental and social impacts of companies and markets. Concerns with climate change and social movements have raised the prominence of corporate responsibility with their employees and investors alike. Shareholders promote disclosure transparency, corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability to help ensure a healthy economy and preserve sustainable long-term returns. Universities have joined this growing chorus of investors and have started to reevaluate their endowments to better fit their missions. This has been encouraged by a growing academic literature on socially and environmentally responsible investing suggesting that such strategies have performed as well or better than traditional approaches. In this study we analyze Central Washington University (CWU) financial investments and score them along environmental, social, and governance (ESG) categories. We then assess their financial performance, and compare it to potential alternatives with higher and lower ESG ratings. This research is conducted by the CWU Council on Investor Responsibility (CIR) subgroup that advises the University, through the office of the CFO, regarding environmental and social governance concerns that might influence the management of the University’s investments. The results of the study seek to provide transparency to University investment holdings and decisions, advise on relevant ESG-related investing issues to ensure the Universities holdings match its mission and values, advise the VP of Business and Financial Affairs on socially responsible investment policy issues by proposing written policies for the Board of Trustees’ consideration.

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/source/2021/COB/4