Responsible Investing
UBC is committed to incorporating environmental, social, and governance factors (ESG) into its investment decisions and providing transparency around its responsible investing approach
Responsible investing is an important priority for the university. UBC’s Statements on Responsible Investing outline the university’s responsible investing beliefs, values and commitments to guide investment decisions carried out on its behalf.
UBC works with UBC Investment Management to thoughtfully incorporate ESG considerations into the investment decision-making process in a manner consistent with UBC’s stewardship responsibilities to maximize the benefit of these funds for the advancement of education and research activities at UBC.
UBC’s public equity holdings, overseen through UBC Investment Management, are publicly available on the UBC Investment Management website. This information is updated every six months. Note that UBC, through UBC Investment Management, does not invest directly in individual stocks and bonds but instead invests in broader externally managed institutional funds that meet investment parameters and criteria.
Timeline
Each year, UBCIM releases its Annual Responsible Investing Report, which includes updates on UBCIM’s responsible investing activities and climate-related performance results.
2025
- Representatives of the Responsible Investing Working Group met with interested faculty and student groups.
- SHARE (the Shareholder Association for Research and Education), a leading consultant in the area of responsible investing, was engaged to support the development of the social risk (including human rights) framework.
- Since April 2025, UBCIM and its external experts have developed two key deliverables that were recently reviewed by the Responsible Investing Working Group:
- Educational primer on social risk: An educational primer was developed outlining how social risks emerge in institutional investment portfolios and how investors can identify and manage them. The primer was specifically commissioned for Canadian universities that manage relatively small capital pools and who employ a “manager of managers” approach to their investments — a fundamental consideration to understanding how most postsecondary institutions manage their endowments and pension plans. The primer serves as an educational resource for university stakeholders and a tool to assist the broader Canadian university sector in understanding and addressing social risk factors. View the primer
- Social Risk (Including Human Rights) Framework: Building on the primer’s guidance, a comprehensive Social Risk Framework was developed. The Framework provides a broad structure for managing a variety of social risks that may occur within a diversified portfolio and across different asset classes, reflecting the complexity of modern institutional portfolios and our evolving world. The Framework is organized around four key pillars: Governance, Risk Management, Investment Manager Accountability, and Collaboration and Leadership. Each pillar contains specific actions that will be integrated into the refresh of UBCIM’s broader Responsible Investing Strategy in 2026.
2024
- In addition to quarterly reviews with investment fund managers, 45 managers working on behalf of the Endowment and Staff Pension Plan received annual assessments. The assessments are intended to both assist in monitoring portfolio risks and highlight areas where UBCIM may engage with managers to improve and enhance their ESG integration and active ownership activities.
- As part of its annual Manager Assessment Framework, a human rights risk baseline assessment was conducted for the endowment fund utilizing a standardized PRI framework. The assessment evaluated how investment managers identify, measure and manage human rights risks that are material to their investment strategies.
- Building on the establishment of social and governance data metrics in 2023, an interactive dashboard has been established to enhance how non-climate risk exposures are monitored and measured. These dashboards are updated regularly to assist engagements with investment managers.
- In December 2024, a Responsible Investing Working Group was established to oversee the development of the social risk framework. The Working Group includes representatives from the UBC Board of Governors, senior UBC Administration officials, and the UBCIM Board, ensuring comprehensive oversight and alignment with UBC’s values and objectives.
2023
- Following a thorough review of ESG data vendors, more than 20 social and governance metrics were established to begin tracking on non-climate risk exposures within investment manager holdings. These include human rights risks such as human rights controversies, labour standards and supply chain scores, workforce diversity, Board diversity and more. The metrics align with UBC’s areas of focus outlined in UBC’s Statements on Responsible Investing.
- UBC approved the updated Statements on Responsible Investing in June 2023, replacing UBC’s previous Responsible Investing Policy which was last updated in 2014. The new Statements consolidate UBC’s responsible investing beliefs, values and commitments, and reflect a decade of work to refine the university’s approach.
- The updated Statements align with UBC’s 10-year Strategic Plan specifically in relation to Goal 5, to “lead globally and locally in sustainability, wellbeing, and safety across our campuses and communities”, and Goal 10, to “lead as a model institution, fostering discourse, knowledge exchange and engagement”, as the Statements provide transparency regarding UBC’s approach to responsible investing.
- The Statements also align with the UBC’s Responsible Investing Strategy, which was developed by UBC Investment Management and endorsed by the Board in 2020.
2022
UBC Investment Management created and shared its inaugural 2021 Responsible Investing Report, which outlines the details of their Responsible Investing Strategy and highlights UBC Investment Management’s progress in 2021 working on behalf of the funds they manage. UBC Investment Management announces several new investments in strategies seeking to advance the transition to a lower carbon economy and focus on strong ESG integration. The UBC Endowment continues to show strong progress toward its carbon reduction target in its public equity portfolio.
2021
In 2021 UBC Investment Management released a Carbon Footprint Report, outlining the methodology used to calculate portfolio carbon emissions and setting a baseline figure for its public equity portfolios. In addition, as part of the UBC Endowment asset mix study, climate risk pathway analysis was incorporated into the strategic asset mix and spend rate analysis. UBC Investment Management also formalized its active ownership guidelines to establish key principles regarding active ownership when investing on behalf of UBC.
2020
In April 2020, UBC’s Board of Governors passed a motion that committed UBC to become a global leader in its comprehensive response to the climate emergency. In doing so, the university reaffirmed its approach to divestment, aiming to reduce climate change-related financial risk in its Endowment through the continued application of ESG investment practices, signing on to the UN Principles of Responsible Investing, and the reduction of carbon emissions and stranded fossil fuel assets.
During the second half of 2020, UBC’s Board of Governors endorsed UBC Investment Management’s comprehensive Responsible Investing Strategic Plan.
The Responsible Investing Strategy includes strengthening UBC’s advocacy and leadership in responsible investing practices. In July 2020, UBC became a UN Principles of Responsible Investing signatory and a founding signatory of Investing to Address Climate Change: A Charter for Canadian Universities. In September 2020, UBC established an ambitious goal of reducing carbon emissions connected to the university’s Endowment portfolio by 45% by 2030.
In addition, an important commitment of the Responsible Investing Strategy was to provide enhanced transparency about the university’s Endowment portfolio holdings. As such, UBC Investment Management has made the Endowment public equities holdings available on the UBC Investment Management website and updates the information semi-annually.
2019
In 2019 UBC joined a growing list of schools, communities, and countries around the world in declaring a climate emergency and committed to divesting UBC’s Endowment.
UBC directed UBC Investment Management to develop and adopt an investment approach that builds on existing responsible investing practices, further addresses climate risk, and helps to drive positive social change.
2017
The Sustainable Future Pool (SFP) was established in 2017 as first step to understand the financial impact enhanced ESG measures would have on the Endowment’s performance. SFP is an endowment pool (group) within the UBC Endowment that is managed separately from the Main Endowment Pool.
The SFP was established to test, validate and research investment strategies that specifically target lower carbon emissions and minimal (or no) fossil fuel holdings without materially negatively impacting the Endowment’s financial performance.
With the continued progress in implementing a comprehensive responsible investing framework, and in particular the commitment of UBC towards divestment from fossil fuels in the Endowment, UBC has incorporated the learnings of the SFP into the entire Endowment. With this transition, the Sustainable Future Pool became part of the Main Endowment Pool in 2022.
2014
After discussion with industry experts and peer institutions, the task group made a number of recommendations outlining options for incorporating ESG factors in the investment process. The UBC Board of Governors approved the policy on April 14, 2014.
2013
UBC adopted its first Responsible Investing Policy in June 2013. The policy provided guidance for consideration of ESG factors in the investment decision-making process. It identified ongoing investment in campus environmental and social projects, committed UBC to join the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance, and appointed a task group to recommend further policy changes to the Board. This policy was developed in collaboration between UBC Treasury, Office of the University Counsel, UBC Investment Management, representatives of peer institutions, and leaders in the responsible investment field.
2010
In 2010, UBC’s Responsible Investment Committee for the Endowment began discussions with external experts and other universities, as well as a review of best practices, to determine an effective approach to responsible investment for UBC’s Endowment.