Stokes discloses UNM Foundation holdings

Published Online Aug. 21

University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes disclosed UNM Foundation holdings in her “President’s Weekly Perspective” email on Monday, Aug. 19. The 83-page document lists the funds the UNM Foundation invests in, but only lists the individual investments within 25 out of 84 of those funds.

The investments within a fund are known as “securities.”

This comes ahead of the first Board of Regents meeting of the academic year on Thursday, Aug. 22, during which Stokes is expected to discuss the disclosure, according to the UNM Palestine Solidarity Camp Instagram. The meeting will take place at the UNM Valencia campus.

In May, following a meeting with the UNM Divestment Coalition, Stokes committed to the University researching and disclosing information from its investment portfolio over the summer. The Divestment Coalition called for UNM to divest from companies based in Israel or companies that indirectly aid the Israeli military.

The UNM Foundation is a nonprofit separate from UNM that manages the University's investments. The UNM Foundation’s total investments, called the Consolidated Investment Fund, were detailed in the newly released document.

The portfolio’s market value totals about $806 million, which is diversified across multiple asset classes, including U.S. equity and international equity — UNM’s two largest investment classes.

In July, the Daily Lobo revealed details of the University’s holdings gained through public records requests. This included shares in funds that invest in Israeli companies.

All of the funds UNM invests in are included in the released CIF holdings. Only the securities within 25 of these funds are included, according to the CIF holdings, such as for Axiom International Small Cap Equity Fund and Arrowstreet Emerging Market Trust Fund.

Axiom owns shares in Nice Ltd. — an Israeli technology company — as the Daily Lobo reported in July. Nice is Axiom’s fifth most heavily weighted company, according to the released CIF holdings.

UNM’s largest international index fund investment, BlackRock ACWI ex USA Index, equals around 15% of UNM’s total investment portfolio. UNM did not release the securities within BlackRock on Aug. 19, though they were detailed by the Daily Lobo in July. BlackRock owns shares in 14 Israeli companies.

Securities are considered “proprietary information,” meaning fund managers may oppose disclosing details of the funds to the public, according to the released CIF holdings. UNM reached out to each fund manager to request approval to release securities within specific investments, the released CIF holdings read.

Proprietary information is confidential information that is not generally known by the public, according to Cornell Law.

“We will continue to provide relevant updates as available, understanding that some information is protected by nondisclosure agreements or other legal constraints,” Stokes’ email reads.

Updated Aug. 22

At the Aug. 22 Regents meeting, neither Stokes nor the Regents mentioned the University’s investments or the recent disclosure. A group of pro-Palestine protesters sat in the audience with signs and Palestinian flags.

For public comment, the Regents allotted 15 total minutes each to the “pro-divestment” and “anti-divestment” perspectives, as described by the Regents — consistent with the previous Regents meeting in May, during which protesters called for divestment.

The meeting marked the first time a regular Regents meeting has been held outside Albuquerque since June 2018, when one was held at the UNM Gallup campus, according to the Regents website.

New Mexico Rep. Eleanor Chávez (D-Albuquerque) attended the meeting and spoke alongside the pro-divestment group during public comment. To her, it seemed like the Aug. 19 disclosure was incomplete, she said.

“If (UNM enters) into these contracts with these investment companies that allow them to refuse disclosure, then we shouldn’t be entering into those kinds of contracts," Chávez said. "We should not be investing in those kinds of companies, because obviously they have something to hide.”

Lily Alexander is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @llilyalexander

Nate Bernard is a beat reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @natebernard14

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