Administrators and students discussed the future of the University’s one-year-old Sustainable Investment Fund at a roundtable discussion in the Marvin Center Monday.

The event featured a presentation and discussion with employees from Strategic Investment Group, an Arlington-based firm that manages both the $2 million fund and the University’s $1.8 billion endowment. Officials, Student Association leaders and student activists discussed the fund’s performance at the roundtable, which was hosted by Sustainable GW.

Ron Clauder, the managing director of Strategic Investment Group, said more than 60 percent of the fund is invested in Pax Global Environmental Markets, a mutual fund that itself invests in a slew of renewable energy and energy efficiency companies.

He said the fund primarily supports companies developing water infrastructure and technology, energy efficiency and agriculture. He added that it is “way too soon” to judge the fund’s growth – but it’s “off to a good start,” yielding a return about 1 percentage point higher than the “market benchmark” of 7.3 percent.

Officials created the Sustainable Investment Fund in February 2018 after a yearslong push from SA leaders and student activists for the University to divest from companies involved in the extraction of fossil fuels. Any profits from the fund are funneled into student financial aid.

Clauder said student suggestions to redirect money from GW’s endowment to the Sustainable Investment Fund would disrupt his firm’s existing investment strategy for the University’s financial foundation.

“There’s just things we can do with a billion dollars that we can’t do with a smaller amount,” Clauder said about the endowment. “We’ve already built what we think is the best portfolio.”

Meghan Chapple, the director of the Office of Sustainability, said SA efforts to increase the size of the fund should focus on garnering donations from alumni and other stakeholders.

She added that there are only a few higher education institutions with similar funds dedicated to buying shares of companies that adhere to environmental, social and governmental criteria that investors use to define socially conscious companies.

“I don’t think there is another fund like this in higher education,” Chapple said. “There may be some other universities that invest in ESG funds, but to call out something, to have a specific $2 million allocation, to have a committee associated with that, I think that’s pretty unique.”

Izzy Moody, the SA’s vice president for sustainability, discussed the possibility of expanding the fund or aligning the University’s other investments with the “socially responsible” aspect of the investment. Moody thanked students from Fossil Free GW and the SA for their support of the fund.

“The Sustainable Investment Fund is truly an embodiment of all of the work that has been done, especially over the past couple of years, to make this a priority,” Moody said.