The primary purpose of King's College’s endowment is to provide long-term investment returns to support the College’s charitable objects of education, religion, learning, and research. It is the College’s policy to take account of ethical and other issues of social responsibility in relation to the endowment. Additionally, there are circumstances described in Charity Commission guidance when the College may balance other considerations against its main fiduciary responsibility.
The College has fully divested from all direct investments in fossil fuels and invests positively in environmental markets and in collective funds that have robust ESG (environmental, social and governance) policies. The College also applies a due diligence process to all philanthropic donations above £10,000, in accordance with its gift acceptance policy which prevents the acceptance of any gift which would damage the reputation, autonomy or integrity of the College and its members.
Responsible investment
The King’s community has welcomed the vote of the Governing Body to adopt a new responsible investment policy in May 2025.
The policy takes a principled approach to our investment portfolio, ensuring that it continues to align our approach to investments with the values of our community. The new policy is the culmination of many months of work by a working group of Fellows and students. It builds on wide-ranging discussions within the College about the relationship between its investments and its values, prompted by the occupation of Ukraine and Palestinian territories. Supported by external experts, the working group and relevant College committees contributed to the development of a broad base of evidence, such that the Governing Body could make a determination in the College’s best interests.
In 2021, in line with the University’s 2020 divestment announcement, the College committed to remove all exposure to fossil fuel investments by 2030. The new approach builds on this commitment and seeks to avoid complicity with abuses and unjustified harm, as well as to model transformation in areas such as the climate crisis.
As part of this approach, the new policy means that the College’s financial investments will exclude companies that:
- Are involved in activities generally recognised as illegal or contravening global norms, such as occupation
- Produce military and nuclear weapons, weapons restricted by international treaty, or companies that produce key or dedicated components of such weapons
Provost Gillian Tett commented: “This is a positive result from a process that engaged voices from all areas of our community. I commend the members of the working group for their incredibly thoughtful engagement and deep commitment to work towards an approach that reflects the College’s values and demonstrates our capacity to model transformation.”
Working group member Henning Grosse Ruse-Khan, Fellow in Law, said: "This has been a comprehensive and inclusive process, involving the whole College community. We thank everyone who contributed to taking an essential step in aligning our investments with our shared values and avoiding complicity with abuses and unjustified harm."
The Presidents of King’s College Student Union, and King’s College Graduate Union said that: “The outcome of this process presents an instance of successful and sustained engagement with student concerns by the decision-making bodies of the College. Through this engagement, the working group has strengthened the College community by giving key beneficiaries, including students, access to one another on an equal footing; allowing for a productive exchange of views, and facilitating a cross-community consensus on the best way forward on a pressing issue.”
The next steps will be to implement these changes across the College’s investment portfolio in the coming months, aiming for completion no later than the end of the calendar year.
