We’re pleased to announce the release of our fourth annual responsible investing report, titled Guiding Principles. The report includes a detailed account of how we weigh the potential impacts of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors in our investment activities – including in our decision-making, active ownership, and reporting and disclosure – as we manage the University of Toronto’s Pension, Endowment and short-term working capital assets.

The report discusses a number of important initiatives, activities and achievements during 2019–2020. Here are a few of the notable highlights:

  • We remain committed to taking decisive action on climate change. We have made significant progress toward the ambitious goal we announced earlier this year: to reduce the carbon footprint of the Pension and Endowment portfolios (“the portfolios”) by at least 40% compared to 2017 levels by the end of 2030. As of December 31, 2019, the carbon footprint was 109.3 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per million dollars invested, a reduction of 19.7% from 2018 and 21.5% from 2017. Importantly, the absolute emissions in the portfolios have also decreased by 12.9% since 2017.
  • In early 2020, we endorsed the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD). U of T was the first Canadian university to make this endorsement with respect to its Pension and Endowment funds. For the first time, we are providing disclosures in line with the TCFD recommendations. We have included them in this report.
  • We received the results from the second and third assessments of our responsible investing activities by the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI): in 2019, five A+ marks and one A, and in 2020, six A+ marks. We scored above median in all categories in both years.
  • We continued to collaborate with like-minded institutional investors and take on advisory and leadership roles in organizations relevant to responsible investing. Our President and CIO, Daren Smith, was appointed to the board of the Canadian Coalition for Good Governance in 2019, and this year he became Vice-Chair of the organization’s Environmental & Social Committee. In 2020, we joined the International Corporate

Governance Network, a leading authority on global standards of corporate governance and investor stewardship. We also continued to participate in engagement activities as part of Climate Action 100+, as well as through specialized engagement service providers.

“We are proud of the comprehensive approach we’ve developed for responsible investing, which aligns with and strengthens our broader scope of responsibility: to the members of the University of Toronto Pension Plan, who expect to enjoy a secure, well-earned retirement; to the many generous donors who’ve contributed to the university’s Endowment; and to the vibrant community of students, faculty and staff who make U of T one of the world’s leading centres of teaching, learning and research,” says Daren Smith, UTAM’s President and Chief Investment Officer.

As the report describes in detail, we’re strongly committed to ESG integration, with over half of our staff involved in responsible investing activities. Our approach continues to evolve – we’re always improving our processes, and we’re actively working to identify and shape best practices in responsible investing. We look forward to building on these efforts in 2021 and beyond.

Download the 2019–2020 Responsible Investing Report.