Fiscal Year 2015

The Amherst College Office of Investment and Investment Committee are committed to a dynamic and ongoing process of inquiry, analysis and engagement with Amherst’s investment partners around environmental considerations.

Portfolio Update

Existing Manager Engagement

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Amherst partners with 73 sustaining investment managers, spanning a range of asset classes. The Office of Investment and Investment Committee are committed to engaging with our managers. Earlier this year, the College reached out to each of its investment managers, asking how they incorporate the financial impact of climate change when evaluating investments. Roughly a third shared written materials on how they incorporate environmental considerations into their investment decision-making process. Although, the majority of managers have verbally indicated that they take these risks into consideration in evaluating prospective investments.

Sustainable & Responsible Investment Efforts

• The College continues to proactively evaluate and vote shareholder proxies in alignment with ESG principles, advocating for corporate accountability with respect to social, ethical, environmental and governance issues.

• To further our engagement with other higher education, as well as investment organizations, we’ve partnered with Ceres, a non-profit organization advocating for sustainability leadership, through membership in its Investor Network on Climate Risk (INCR). As part of our involvement with the INCR, the College has supported two letter writing initiatives: one to the finance ministers of the Group of Seven in support of a long-term global emissions reduction goal and one in support of the White House’s proposal to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry by at least 45% below 2012 levels by 2025.
• The College engages prospective investment managers in dialogue during the due diligence process to understand their approach and commitment to integrating ESG considerations into their investment process.  Amherst looks to invest with managers who thoughtfully and consistently incorporate ESG factors into their investment diligence and process.

Proxy Voting

The College continues to use the voting rights attached to the shares of companies in which it invests to promote the principles of sustainable and responsible investment, utilizing research from ISS for all proxies before casting votes in alignment with these principles. In Fiscal Year 2015, The College voted a total of 52 proxies for directly held stocks within the portfolio.

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Of these, 27 proxies included shareholder proposals for a wide range of issues, including proxy access, reporting on lobbying payments, independent board chairs and reporting on practices to mitigate palm oil sourcing. There were 14 shareholder proposals specific to ESG issues, all of which the College voted in favor of.

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Memberships & Other Engagement