Reviewing our Responsible Investment Policy

The University's Responsible Investment Policy (2025) was published following a University-wide consultation. This page contains frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the University's investments, updates regarding the progress of the Responsible Investment Advisory Group and further information about the consultation.

Responsible Investment Advisory Group (RIAG)

The remit and membership of the Responsible Investment Advisory Group are available on the Committees and Governance webpages.

Committees and Governance: Responsible Investment Advisory Group

At its first meeting the group approved a set of principles to inform its work and a work programme for the period 2025-27.

Responsible Investment Advisory Group: Principles

Responsible Investment Advisory Group: Workplan

The group is currently developing a representations process for staff and students that will be published in 2026/27. The immediate priority will be to deal with the priority tasks below. 

These three key tasks are to:

  • advise on the revision and application of definitions relating to exclusions, including controversial armaments
  • review the ambition of the Responsible Investment Policy, with particular attention to human rights and armaments
  • improve communications, transparency, and stakeholder engagement in relation to investments

The group agreed to publish an annual report which will include a summary of topics considered, representations received and advice provided. The group agreed that any advice provided by the group will be published in due course. 


Frequently Asked Questions

Find out more about key terms and commonly asked questions relating to the University's investment decision-making. 

Information about the 2024 Responsible Investment Policy Review can be found beneath the FAQ section.

Tuition fees are managed by the University's Treasury. Tuition fees are not invested in the University's Endowment and Investment Fund.

The Treasury manages the University's short to medium-term cash balances, enabling the University to operate day-to-day. This includes ensuring tuition fee income and staff salaries are safely managed in line with the University Treasury Management policy.

Treasury 


The Endowment and Investment Fund is made up of the many philanthropic donations, gifted as endowments, for the benefit of the University's charitable educational purpose. 

The Endowment Fund has two primary objectives: to provide income to support the charitable activities specified by donors and to grow in value over the long-term to ensure that future generations of students and staff can benefit from the endowment as well as the present generation.  

Endowment Fund reports 


The purpose of the Responsible Investment Policy is to ensure the University’s investments uphold our values and commitment to social and civic responsibility and sustainability, whilst meeting the objectives of the University's Endowment Fund.  

The Policy operationalises the University’s commitment to responsible investment decision-making and provides mandatory requirements for both the Investment Committee and the asset managers seeking to grow the Endowment Fund on behalf of the University.

What commitments have been outlined in the latest Policy?

  • A commitment to reduce carbon emissions from investment portfolios in line with the University’s net zero target and following a 1.5°C pathway, from a 2018 baseline. 
  • Exploring how to incorporate best practice guidance on nature and biodiversity into the Endowment Fund, using advice from the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures. 
  • Enshrining a commitment to social impact investing within the policy, recognising the existing Social Investment Fund and reporting on its impact. 
  • The establishment of a new Responsible Investment Advisory Group to consider the integration of human rights principles into investment activities and to provide oversight and advice on responsible investment issues.

The University’s governing body, the University Court is ultimately responsible for the stewardship of the Endowment Fund and the approval of investment strategies and policies, including the Responsible Investment Policy. To support the University Court in this task it has delegated some responsibilities to two of its committees.   

The Policy and Resources Committee sets the Terms of Reference for the Investment Committee and oversees its activities. 

Policy and Resources Committee 

The Investment Committee manages the investment portfolio to deliver the objectives it is set by the Policy and Resources Committee. That includes meeting the requirements of the responsible investment policy statement and generating sufficient financial returns to fund charitable educational activities. 

Investment Committee 

The Investment Committee appoints professional investment fund managers and monitors their performance against benchmarks. These fund managers invest on its behalf, and must comply with the commitments set out in the Responsible Investment Policy.  

Endowment Fund Managers and Types of Investment 

The Responsible Investment Policy Statement (2025) introduces a new group to advise the University on ethical and due diligence matters and wider responsible investment issues.

Responsible Investment Advisory Group

The University’s Treasury balances are managed separately to the Endowment Fund by the Finance Directorate.  

Treasury

The Social Investment Fund is managed by the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Advisory Group, which reports into the University Executive and Investment Committee as required.

ESG Advisory Group


As recommended by the second working group, the University Court agreed to establish the Responsible Investment Advisory Group to create a representations process for students and staff, to carry out ethical review and due diligence of the University’s investments and to advise on the application of definitions relating to exclusions.

The Group's first meeting took place in October 2025. A second meeting is scheduled to take place in December 2025. The membership of the Group is currently being confirmed through governance processes and will be published on the Committees and Governance webpages.

The Terms of Reference for the Group is linked below.


The University recognises its potential to deliver positive impacts in the world through its role as an investor. Large organisations such as the University can work with others to influence how companies and sectors approach responsible investment topics.  

As a large institutional investor, with a diversified, long-term portfolio, the University could be described as a “universal owner”.  

Universal Ownership (PRI)

According to the Principles for Responsible Investment: 

“The active ownership model gives more weight than traditional portfolio management to inter-generational concerns and to the sustainability of the economy as factors affecting future risk-adjusted returns.”  

As a Universal Owner, the University could seek a more proactive approach towards generating wider positive social and environmental impact across its diverse range of investments.  

The Principles for Responsible Investment set out guidance for investors seeking to explore an active ownership approach. 

One example of active ownership is the ongoing initiative supported by the University of Edinburgh and led by the University of Cambridge, calling for banking products that do not finance fossil fuel expansion. 

UK universities launch call for banking products that avoid financing fossil fuel expansion 

How can active ownership make the University a more ethical investor?

There are a variety of tools available to investors like the University.  Instead of only considering action such as selling investments (divestment), investors can try to influence companies by voting on decisions or engaging with management. 

As stated in the Responsible Investment Policy (2025), the University intends to adopt the universal ownership approach and to explore a proportionate, effective approach to active ownership as part of its investment activities. 

The Responsible Investment Advisory Group will help to develop guidance associated with this approach and include any specific commitments in future versions of the University’s Responsible Investment Policy. 


The Endowment Fund is invested directly and indirectly in assets such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and other assets (together these are known as asset classes). These investments can grow over time and generate capital growth and/or income.

Because of the nature of compound interest, small increases in annual returns can mean large increases in the total size of the fund over time. This means more money can be supplied to charitable causes such as medical research or student scholarships.

What sort of funds is the Endowment Fund invested in?

The Endowment and Investment Fund is diversified, which means that the Fund is invested in a number of different asset classes and in a variety of funds and industry sectors from around the globe.  

This is currently achieved in two ways: 

  • Direct investments: a segregated mandate (effectively a dedicated account) with Baillie Gifford, specifically managed to meet the financial and responsible objectives of the Endowment Fund. 
  • Indirect investments: a selection of third-party funds that are available also to other investors, which were selected to meet the objectives of the Endowment Fund. This is also known as a “pooled investment”. 

A list of the University’s direct and indirect holdings can be viewed online. Most major investors take a diversified approach, to ensure that risk is spread over a variety of investments and protect donations from fluctuations caused by markets. 

Investments | Finance


University investments overseen by the Investment Committee are published biannually: 

Investments | Information Compliance 

Reports | Finance 

Annual Report and Accounts  

Principles for Responsible Investment | Social Responsibility and Sustainability 

In addition to existing reports, the new responsible investment policy commits the University to annual reporting on the climate metrics of the Endowment Fund and social impacts of the Social Investment Fund. 

University cuts carbon footprint of investments by 64%

The first Social Investment Fund impact report was published in January 2026.

The Social Investment Fund 

It isn’t possible for the University to provide a detailed “every pound traced” breakdown. This is because some of our investments are “indirect” or “pooled” funds, or involve funds whose underlying investments change rapidly. 

The use of these large, externally managed funds would make it impossible for the University to report on every investment within that fund, because they are managed by an external asset manager. Even if we did have real-time visibility of those individual investments, we would be contractually prohibited from publishing full details for commercial confidentiality reasons.


When done well, responsible investing should help protect the value of investments from financially material environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks, and help future-proof investments. Investor stewardship (e.g. voting and engagement) can also enhance the value of a responsible investment approach by addressing remaining ESG risks. 

For example, climate change creates both physical risks (like damage from floods, droughts, or storms) and transition risks (such as new regulations, shifting energy markets, and changing consumer demand) for businesses, and therefore investments. A responsible investor might reduce exposure to companies heavily reliant on fossil fuels, invest more in renewable energy, and engage with businesses to improve climate adaptation planning. 

In the case of the University’s Endowment and Investment Fund, the application of the responsible investment policy needs to enable - not inhibit - the Fund’s primary objective, which is to grow its value and maintain its capital over the long term, whilst providing an annual income yield to support the activities of the its endowments. These activities include socially beneficial scholarships and research.  

If applied without due consideration, and depending on the specific rules, standards and exclusions used, an overly restrictive responsible investment approach can limit the number of available investment options. This may negatively impact a fund’s performance compared to an unconstrained approach. 

Therefore the role of the University’s investment governance bodies is to work together to manage the financial and ESG objectives so that they remain mutually supportive, ultimately supporting the Endowment Fund to meet its objectives.  

Over time the University has embedded climate risk into its investment strategy, via full divestment from fossil fuels and latterly by measuring and reducing the carbon footprint of investments. This has happened whilst still allowing investment objectives to be achieved. 

University cuts carbon footprint of investments by 64% 


The current Responsible Investment Policy (2025) sets out an intention to minimise the human rights risks associated with its investments.

This topic is one of the core considerations of the Responsible Investment Advisory Group remitted from Court. More detailed standards on how the endowment addresses human rights in investments and investor engagement will be shared in the coming months via a planned update to the current Responsible Investment Policy.


At its core, the University’s Responsible Investment Policy seeks to align with the University’s fiduciary duty: to act in the best interests of the University and fulfill its charitable objectives whilst upholding its environmental, social and governance values. 

The University’s governing body, the University Court is ultimately responsible for the stewardship of the Endowment Fund and the approval of investment strategies and policies, including the Responsible Investment Policy. 

The University Court has delegated investment decision-making responsibilities to the Policy and Resources Committee and the Investment Committee. In addition, both the Investment committee and the Responsible Investment Advisory Group provide input and suggestions to the Endowment Fund investment selection, policies and reporting.


We’re part of the Responsible Investment Network for Universities, a network of higher education and charitable investors who seek to share knowledge and work together to champion social and responsible investment. 

We’ve shared our own experience managing our £8 million social investment fund, drawing on input from other social investors like Better Society Capital, and our social impact investees. 

Investing for Good: The University of Edinburgh's Social Investment Fund

We’ve been a signatory to the UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment since 2013, and were selected to be part of the PRI leadership group in 2019. 

Principles for Responsible Investment

We are also part of a collaborative effort led by the University of Cambridge to promote banking products that do not finance fossil fuel expansion. 

UK universities launch call for banking products that avoid financing fossil fuel expansion

We will continue to collaborate with our peers and strive for best practice in our responsible investment approach.


University-wide consultation

In May 2024 the University Executive announced a University-wide consultation and the creation of two working groups to review and inform its future investment approach.

Between May and September 2024, all University students and staff were invited to share their views on proposed changes to the University's Responsible Investment Policy in an anonymous survey. Independent researchers analysed the 1,928 survey responses in Semester 1, 2024/25.

The student and staff consultation survey provided valuable insight to the review process and highlighted an appetite for change in key areas. We are grateful for the contributions received and engagement shown, and a full analysis of the findings can be viewed in the report below.

While many of the opinions expressed produced clear trends, it is important to acknowledge that some of the views indicate an unfamiliarity with some of the progress made since the publication of the previous policy – for example, concerns shared about issues already resolved or about measures now creating positive impacts – highlighting a need for clearer communication on these topics. However, the policy review has considered all insights and sought to address the underlying concerns and expectations driving opinions.

Responsible Investment Policy Statement (2025)

 

The working group met during May and June 2024. A report with recommendations was considered by University Executive and the University’s governing body, University Court, later in June 2024.

The University Court issued a statement to staff and students following its consideration of this review:

A statement from the University Court | The University of Edinburgh

The summary report produced by the working group and its Terms of Reference can be accessed below.


The working group was established to consider the investment approach in the international context, including with respect to UN-backed Principles for Responsible Investment and our University's values.

The summary report produced by the working group and its Terms of Reference can be accessed below:


If you have further questions, please contact: responsible.investment@ed.ac.uk

Related links

Responsible Investment

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