UC Retirement Savings Program fund menu to remove companies that own fossil fuel reserves
The University of California has made the decision to remove all companies that own fossil fuel reserves from the UC Retirement Savings Program (RSP) fund offering. On June 30, 2022, UC will sell existing holdings from RSP core funds and will no longer invest in fossil fuel companies. UC Investments defines these holdings as publicly traded companies that own any amount of fossil fuel reserves in thermal coal (not metallurgical coal), oil and gas.
Why is UC making this change?
UC Investments believes that the fossil fuel industry faces considerable long-term financial risk and that removing such companies from the RSP will have a positive financial and risk-reducing impact on fund performance in the long run. Based on its analysis, UC Investments has already sold fossil fuel companies from the University’s assets, including the Pension, Endowment and Working Capital asset pools. Removing fossil fuel companies from the RSP is the final step in the journey that UC Investments started in 2015 when it began selling off holdings in companies whose primary business was in thermal coal and oil sand extraction.
Participants who are invested in the RSP core funds will no longer hold fossil fuel names as of July 1, 2022 (excludes two funds managed by Fidelity: UC Growth Company Fund and UC Diversified International Fund). However, the RSP offers access to over 10,000 mutual funds and exchange-traded funds including unscreened low-cost index or sector-specific funds through Fidelity BrokerageLink®.