Citing a shift toward more sustainable investing, the Concordia University Foundation (CUF) is creating a new $5 million investment fund that will be devoted to ethical investing.

The CUF says it will select investment managers for the new fund who will use a fully sustainable investment approach. The initial $5 million investment maybe expanded with additional contributions.

“We have been closely following the public discourse on divestment, and social and ethical investing,” says Howard Davidson, chair of the CUF. “The result includes the adoption of a responsible investment policy and exploring a new approach to asset management.”

The process to initiate the sustainable investment fund will begin in January 2015. “The transition to sustainable investment won’t happen overnight,” says Davidson. “But this is a solid start and it demonstrates the leadership in the area of sustainability that Concordia is known for.”

“This was really a collaborative effort on an extremely complex issue,” says Concordia’s president Alan Shepard. “Our student leaders stimulated the discussion and the foundation was responsive to their concerns.”