In 2010, the church established an investment committee to advise the Finance division on investment of the General (treasury) Funds. (The pension fund and foundation are governed by separate structures.)
The committee reviewed and substantially revised the existing policy. The previous policy included an appendix on environment, social, and governance (ESG) screening dating from 2001. It was revised to incorporate a multi-strategy approach:
- stock screening
- ESG integration (mainstreaming of ESG factors in the investment process)
- impact investment
- proxy voting
- corporate dialogue and shareholder resolutions
Implementation of the policy has begun with the assistance of SHARE, a not-for-profit responsible investment organization that provides a group of clients with options for engagement and advocacy on a range of responsible investment issues, and proxy voting services.
The responsible investment policies of the General Funds of The United Church of Canada are outlined in its Investment Policy, updated in 2022, and in particular, Appendix A of the policy.
Downloads
- Investment Policy (2022) (155.69 KB) (PDF)