Elizabeth Church

Daren Smith takes charge at University of Toronto Asset Management

lavende4 — Fri, 02 Sep 2016 13:03:42 +0000

Daren Smith takes charge at University of Toronto Asset Management

lavende4 Fri, 09/02/2016 - 09:03

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(Johnny Guatto photo)

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Daren Smith is the new president and chief investment officer of University of Toronto Asset Management, leading a team that oversees close to $6.5 billion in pension and endowment funds for the university.

Smith joined UTAM in 2008 and takes over for Bill Moriarty, who retired earlier this year. His appointment follows a series of changes in recent years at UTAM aimed at reducing investment risk and making the asset manager more accountable to the university.

“UTAM and its staff are valued partners, managing the money that we rely on to help fund our academic mission and our pensions,” President Meric Gertler said. “Daren understands the importance of this role, and has built a strong track record as part of UTAM’s senior team. I want to welcome him to his new job.”

John Switzer, chair of the UTAM board who acted as an interim leader in the months since Moriarty’s retirement, said the fact the new president comes from within the organization is a sign of the strength of the UTAM team assembled over the past five years.

“I am delighted with this appointment and with the selection process,” Switzer said. “It will be a smooth transition.”

Gertler thanked Switzer for his leadership during the transition period and for his work on the selection of UTAM’s new president.

Smith said he looks forward to working closely with the university.

“Our main objective is to continue to generate strong value-added returns,” Smith said. “The only reason for an organization like UTAM to exist is if it can outperform its benchmarks.”

UTAM has made several changes to its approach to investing, he said, that include moving away from specific allocation targets for alternative investments such as hedge funds and private equity, and implementing what he described as a comprehensive system for evaluating investment risk.

UTAM also has worked, he said, to build a strong investment team with expertise in selecting asset managers and portfolio construction.

Changes to the governance structure of UTAM also are designed to bring it closer to the university while remaining as a separate organization.

The five-member board includes President Gertler as well as the university’s chief financial officer, Sheila Brown, a representative from the University of Toronto Faculty Association, an independent director and UTAM’s president. A new investment committee that reports to the university president, and is working closely with UTAM, is co-chaired by Geoffrey Matus and David Denison. There is also a separate pension committee that provides high-level oversight of pension investment policies and procedures.

In his role as president, Smith said he wants to raise awareness and provide more information about UTAM.

Over the past five years UTAM has consistently exceeded the returns of its benchmark portfolio for pension and endowment funds and has outperformed by more than 1.7 per cent per year over that period. “Although we are encouraged by these results, we know that it takes a lot longer than five years to demonstrate a truly successful investment process,” Smith said. “But we believe that we have the governance, team, infrastructure and culture in place to maximize the chances of outperforming in the future.”

Joe Pennachetti on cities and the role of the University of Toronto

sgupta — Thu, 14 Apr 2016 08:38:26 +0000

Joe Pennachetti on cities and the role of the University of Toronto sgupta Thu, 04/14/2016 - 04:38

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Joe Pennachetti, at the Global Cities Summit hosted by U of T's Global Cities Institute in May 2014, where the creation of the World Council on City Data (WCCD) to globally implement ISO 37120 was announced (photo courtesy the WCCD)

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Former City Manager will be in conversation today with CBC Radio's Matt Galloway at the Munk School of Global Affairs

Joe Pennachetti, Toronto’s former top civil servant, says universities are the “ideal forum,” for sharing information and innovative practices among cities across Canada and around the world.

Pennachetti joined the University of Toronto in 2015 as a senior adviser at the Institute on Municipal Finance & Governance (IMFG) and the School of Public Policy & Governance (SPPG) and as a senior adviser at the Global Cities Institute and executive adviser to the World Council on City Data.

Both are places he turned to, he says, for expertise and research to guide policy as city manager of Canada’s largest city. In his new role at U of T, he is encouraging others to do the same.

Pennachatti will discuss his views on policy making in civic government with CBC radio host Matt Galloway today at a sold-out forum at U of T’s Munk School of Global Affairs. The event is co-sponsored by the IMFG and the School of Public Policy and Governance (SPPG) at the University of Toronto.

In advance of that event, he spoke to U of T News about the role he sees for U of T in supporting cities and the increasing importance of civic government.

Tell us about your new role at U of T.
I’ve had a relationship with the both the Global Cities Institute and the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance for more than a decade. To me, the partnership was invaluable to get the best possible information and data that’s out there – in Ontario, Canada, the globe. Any city with limited staff could never do the global research that they are doing. I am hoping to make that tie between municipalities and the university.

From your experience, what role do you see for U of T to help cities?
How we can learn from one another as cities, that’s where a university is the ideal forum for pulling it all together. At the end of the day, it is this type of research that is going to be invaluable to cities. You start looking at the data and you solve problems that exist today and you are able to adapt to the challenges of the future, as well.

The federal government is about to make major investments in infrastructure. You were City Manager in Toronto during the last wave of federal infrastructure spending. What’s your take on this latest investment?
I’ve never been so optimistic about the true collaboration of funding from the federal level to cities in Canada. And don’t forget the province, as well. I think they have acknowledged that the property tax in cities can’t fund the tens of billions of dollars in projects that are needed to meet new growth, especially transit. I think it is finally going to happen over the next 10 to 20 years.

Can we take the politics out of infrastructure funding?
I think you can take much of the politics out by coming up with a good sound allocation formula and ensuring that municipalities have input on what they deem to be priority projects. It should be: Here is a 10 year plan on funding. Give us your projects. Match them up. It is not rocket science.

What is your advice to cities, given your experience?
There is a huge window of opportunity. Don’t blow it. Because there is a strong political will aligned with a process, I think it is going to happen. All governments have to be seen working together. We have to be viewed by the public, the average businesses and resident as one government. Cities deliver the lion’s share of services. The only thing that is hindering that is the proper mix of funding sources.

What about revenue tools such as tolls and high occupancy lanes? Will people ever be ready to have a discussion about new sources of funding?
It really has to be provincial governments sitting down with cities. Call it a funding summit. You need an intergovernmental summit where cities are equal and you work out the money that is coming from the provincial and the federal government. If it means an extra 5 cents fuel tax or some toll money then so be it instead of dancing around studies every year. We need to come up with a mechanism, at least in Ontario if not across the country, of how we are going to fund these mega projects over the next 30 years.

Is this a time when the municipal level of government is coming into its own?
No ifs ands or buts. Thirty-nine years ago when I started in Edmonton and up until about 10 years ago we were referred to as “the third level of government.” That used to really upset me, but that’s the way it was. We were treated that way.

I feel strongly in the 39 years that I have been in this weird municipal world it has almost turned on its head. I believe we are treated equally now. For the average resident we deliver the core services – water, sewers, transportation, emergency services. The balance of the 21th century is going to be about urbanization. It already is.

Cities are the future. That term is used a lot and it is real. That’s why I believe strongly that the partnership among the three levels of government has to happen now. It has to be real. It has to lay out long- term plans that will avoid the infighting and bickering that has happened in the past. We have made huge strides with the collaboration of three levels of government. We have to continue it so we are really true partners and it is not just words.

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Q & A with President Meric Gertler on U of T's 14-point plan, Beyond Divestment

sgupta — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 11:05:12 +0000

Q & A with President Meric Gertler on U of T's 14-point plan, Beyond Divestment sgupta Wed, 03/30/2016 - 07:05

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The University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation will “systematically search for those firms that are best-in-class when it comes to their environmental, social and governance practices,” President Gertler says

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“The University of Toronto must go beyond an approach based on the blunt tool of divesting from fossil fuel companies”

Universities have a crucial role to play in helping to meet the global challenge of climate change, says University of Toronto President Meric Gertler – and as a publicly supported academic institution, U of T has a responsibility to take decisive action.

Gertler outlined his vision for that role in Beyond Divestment: Taking Decisive Action on Climate Change, U of T's 14-point plan to address climate change released March 30.

Beyond Divestment is a response to the President’s Advisory Committee on Divestment from Fossil Fuels which, last December, recommended that the University adopt a strategy of targeted and principled divestment as well as a number of initiatives in the broader field of sustainability.

Gertler says U of T’s financial investments must take into account environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors – including climate-related risks – when appraising long-term performance. In addition, he stresses the University needs to take a leadership role in research, teaching and its own use of resources to respond to what has become the most pressing environmental issue of our generation.

Listen to the president on CBC Radio's As it Happens

The president also discussed his response to the advisory committee’s report with U of T News, and shared his vision for the University’s role to address climate change.

What is Beyond Divestment recommending?
I believe it is important that the University of Toronto takes real action to meet the global challenge of climate change. One of the ways we can do this is by making a commitment to responsible investing. But we can do much more than that.

I am calling for the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation to revise U of T’s investment strategy to include a systematic consideration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors. There is a growing consensus in the investment industry that prudent managers can best uphold their fiduciary responsibility to the beneficiaries of trusts such as pension funds and endowments by taking climate-related risks and opportunities, as well as a broader range of ESG factors into consideration when they appraise the long-term performance of individual investments. The ESG approach I am asking UTAM to adopt would apply not only to the assessment of our direct investments in fossil-fuel producing firms, but also to U of T’s direct investments in fossil-fuel consuming firms. Moreover, over time, it could also apply to our indirect investments – that is, those investments we make through pooled and indexed funds.

Further, we will launch a series of special funding programs and initiatives that enable our scientists, scholars and graduate and undergraduate students to pursue environment- and energy-related research, education and industrial partnerships and educational programs. Finally, as a large operation, we already have a stellar record on all three of our campuses in reducing energy and water use and our carbon footprint. In fact, U of T earned a Canada’s Greenest Employer designation in 2015. The actions I’ve outlined in my response ensure we will continue to perform even better.

Universities are relatively small players in the investing world but the University of Toronto is a leader in research and teaching – and it’s there where we can have a tremendous impact. I want to make sure we are supporting the efforts of faculty and students, and we are walking the talk on our own campuses by taking action to reduce our carbon footprint.

Is the University of Toronto divesting from fossil fuels?
The committee indicated that a blanket divestment strategy would be unprincipled and inappropriate, and I agree with them. The challenge with fossil fuels divestment is that it only addresses – at most – one-quarter of Canada’s greenhouse gas emissions, and ignores those activities such as transportation, manufacturing, construction and buildings that collectively generate the bulk of our emissions. If we’re serious about addressing climate change, we need a strategy that alters behaviour and encourages more progressive practices across the entire economy and society.

The committee recommended a targeted and dynamic approach to guide the university’s investment decisions. It advocated a firm-by-firm (targeted) approach, instead of a blanket approach that classifies an entire sector as off-limits. It singled out a subset of the fossil fuels sector that it judged to be particularly unhelpful in supporting our collective effort to abide by the 1.5 degree C threshold enshrined in the Paris Agreement. It singled out some individual companies by name. But it also advised that, if such a company were to change its practices significantly in a way that helps us achieve the Paris Agreement goals, it should be considered eligible for investment. This is what I mean by a dynamic approach.

U of T does not hold direct investments in the companies that the committee singled out in its recommendations. As UTAM moves to adopt an investment strategy guided by ESG factors, its investment managers will systematically search for those firms that are best-in-class when it comes to their environmental, social and governance practices. This would likely include fossil fuel producing firms as well as those firms that consume fossil fuels. I believe that, over time, as this active, ESG factor-based investment strategy is employed, the results in terms of the investments held by the university will be consistent with the essence of the committee’s recommendation.

This ESG approach could ultimately apply not only to the assessment of direct investments, but also to U of T’s indirect investments, through pooled and indexed funds. We will look to the experts and international standards to guide us as we incorporate ESG factors into our investing.

The University of Toronto must go beyond an approach based on the blunt tool of divesting from fossil fuel companies. We have a crucial and unique role to play in helping to meet the challenge of climate change. As a publicly supported academic institution, we feel a strong sense of social responsibility to take action.

Why is the University of Toronto not divesting from the companies recommended by the committee?
The University does not have any direct investments in the companies the committee named for immediate divestment.

In regard to our other direct holdings, I am asking the University of Toronto Asset Management Corporation, which manages our pension and endowment, to develop a set of principles by July 1 to guide investments in a way that takes environmental, social and governance factors into consideration.

What will happen to the committee’s recommendations?
First I want to thank the committee for their dedication to this work, and for offering thoroughly researched and thoughtful recommendations. I’ve also been impressed with the work of the student representatives of Toronto350, and with their ongoing engagement and collegiality. They’ve really represented U of T with integrity, and they are both to be commended for advancing discussion and action in a constructive way.

I gave the committee’s recommendations serious consideration and my response very much embraces the spirit of those recommendations. I believe the actions I’ve outlined reflect an even broader and more impactful approach to the question of investment and fossil fuels.

What happens next?
I am asking UTAM to take a number of actions:

develop principles by July 1 that will enable consideration of ESG factors in undertaking direct investments;
make the University of Toronto among the first Canadian universities to become a signatory to the Carbon Disclosure Project.
evaluate signing the United Nations-supported Principles for Responsible Investment Initiative;
determine ways in which it can vote proactively and deliberately on shareholder resolutions aimed at reducing climate-related risk for firms in which they are directly invested;
evaluate signing the Montreal Carbon Pledge, which commits investors to measuring and publicly disclosing the carbon footprint of their investment portfolios every year; and,
report annually on its efforts to assess ESG factors in making investment decisions.

What will this mean to investment returns?
We have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize the investment returns of our pension funds and endowments, subject to acceptable levels of risk. A growing body of international evidence indicates that good investment returns can go hand and hand with being environmentally responsible: this is not an either/or proposition. We’re going to look to international standards as our guide to consider environment, social and governance factors – including climate-related risks and opportunities – as part of our investing strategy.

What are you doing beyond investments?
The University’s investments play a small part in the influence we can have on the global response to climate change. Our most effective contributions will come from our role in research and teaching. I’m recommending we take several actions, including more funding for climate change related research and education initiatives. Our campuses also should be a test bed for new technologies and a leader in adopting energy-saving and alternative energy technology.

I’m proposing a number of actions:

a tri-campus clean-tech challenge to encourage environment- and energy-related entrepreneurship;
$750,000 distributed over three years for climate-change related research and education initiatives;
prioritizing climate change-related themes in selected programs and curricula;
increasing the Utilities Reduction Revolving Fund by 50 percent, from $5 million to $7.5 million, to encourage more extensive implementation of energy-saving retrofits in our buildings;
formally adopting substantially more rigorous energy efficiency standards for capital projects;
pursuing opportunities to use U of T facilities for environmental and sustainability research;
investigating the potential of other renewable energy projects;
establishing a U of T committee on the environment, climate change and sustainability with a mandate to coordinate and advance U of T’s environmental research, innovation, education and energy consumption initiatives.

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U of T invests in sustainable operations

sgupta — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 05:25:09 +0000

U of T invests in sustainable operations sgupta Wed, 03/30/2016 - 01:25

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The Environmental Science & Chemistry Building at the the University of Toronto Scarborough (photo by Ken Jones)

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When it comes to transportation, fewer than 35 per cent of UTSC students arrive at campus in their own cars – an impressive achievement for a commuter campus. With more than 680 buses coming to campus every day (up from 350 just five years ago), transit options have greatly improved. UTSC is now serving as a community transit hub, served by GO, TTC and Durham Regional Transit.

At U of T Mississauga, “Grow Smart, Grow Green” is the guiding principle for campus development, balancing the need for growth with environmental sensitivity and responsibility. As a microcosm for the pressures of urban growth, UTM “remains committed to proving that expansion and development can be accomplished in an environmentally sustainable manner,” says Professor Deep Saini, vice-president of U of T and principal of UTM.

These “green” projects extend across every corner of campus. A commitment to sustainable architecture means three UTM buildings are LEED certified, with two more pending. Sixty per cent of UTM’s roofs have gardens, or are painted white to reflect sunlight. On more than 20 sites, UTM has replaced grass with native species of trees, shrubs and wildflowers. And geothermal energy heats and cools one of UTM’s newest and largest buildings, the Instructional Centre. Aside from electricity to run the pumps, the building requires no energy for heating or cooling.

(Below: the 13,000-square-meter Instructional Centre at the University of Toronto Mississauga features sustainable components such as a large array of photovoltaic panels, a green roof and a geothermal heating and cooling system located beneath the campus football field/photo by Paul Orenstein)

U of T also is a leader in internal energy production, operating a highly efficient Central Steam plant that serves more than 100 buildings on its St George campus. All three campuses also produce substantial amounts of clean energy.

While the university continues to expand, it has reduced its water use to well below 1991 levels.

The University has steadily and significantly reduced its energy use and carbon footprint and was one of just 60 organizations across the country to be awarded a “Canada’s Greenest Employer” designation in 2015.

“A lot of these things we have just done because they are the right things to do,” Mabury said. Many of the improvements have been made as part of smart changes to operations and with internal funding.

Against that backdrop, the president’s report gives the university a chance to take stock and set goals for the coming years. It calls on U of T to become “an even greater example of innovation” and to make its own operations a testing ground for academic and research projects.

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Elizabeth Church

Daren Smith takes charge at University of Toronto Asset Management

Joe Pennachetti on cities and the role of the University of Toronto

Q & A with President Meric Gertler on U of T's 14-point plan, Beyond Divestment

Listen to the president on CBC Radio's As it Happens

U of T invests in sustainable operations

Read more about the 14-point plan

Read more about U of T's leading environmental research and teaching

Read more about the Environmental Science and Chemistry Building

See a photo gallery of the building