College trustees are considering investing a portion of the endowment in a socially responsible investment fund. Recent market events and the poor performance of the endowment have caused the trustees to question their decisions regarding the managers employed by the endowment and the policies and procedures of the endowment itself. To help with the decision, the board examines return data for three investment funds. Excerpt UVA-F-1659 Rev. Nov. 30, 2011 The Oxcel Endowment and Socially Responsible Investing The trustees of the Oxcel College endowment were scheduled to meet on November 20, 2009, to consider investing a portion of the endowment in a socially responsible investment fund. Recent market events and the abysmal performance of the endowment had caused the trustees to question their decisions regarding both the managers employed by the endowment and the investment policies and procedures of the endowment itself. Given the changes the board was now considering, the head of the trustees, Max Davis, believed the time was right to consider the issue. Over the previous five years, the voices of alumni suggesting, requesting, and demanding that the college's endowment commit to a program of socially responsible investing had grown dramatically. Almost every one of the trustees had received a personal request regarding the matter from alumni they knew well. While none of the trustees was excited about the possibility of meeting just before the Thanksgiving holiday, they all agreed that the reason for their meeting was an important one. In establishing the asset allocation policy for the endowment, the board had set a target of 30% to be invested in domestic equities with the S&P 500 as the benchmark for this asset class. As a starting point for its socially responsible investment program, the endowment was considering investing a portion of its domestic equity allocation in one or more of three funds: the Abbe Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Fund, the Winslow Green Growth Fund, and the Calvert Social Investment Equity Fund. A description of investment focus of each fund is given in Exhibit 1, and summary data for the funds is given in Exhibit 2. . . .