Ball State University Foundation, Muncie, Ind., has adopted new environmental, social and governance policies, including the creation of an ESG portfolio on a pilot-program basis, said Lisa Renze-Rhodes, university spokeswoman, in an e-mail.
The $236 million foundation’s board created the policies following a 15-month review of potentially divesting from fossil-fuel stocks. While divestment was not approved, the board voted to encourage “adoption of (ESG) policies among its advisers and managers,” according to a university news release.
The foundation will also create an investment portfolio managed under ESG principles as a pilot program “available as an option to endowment donors,” the news release said.
The new policies are being implemented despite the fact that the foundation’s holdings in Carbon Underground 200 companies make up less than 1% of the foundation’s total assets, Cheri O’Neill, foundation president and CEO, said in the news release.
