Investment Solutions for United Methodist Organizations
Wespath Fund Performance¹
Year-to-date net-of-fees fund performance through November 30, 2016 is available here.
During this period, our flagship fund, the Multiple Asset Fund (MAF), outperformed its blended benchmark, largely due to overweight allocations to small-cap U.S. stocks, high-yield bonds and emerging market debt. Other positive contributing factors were dedicated allocations to commodities and emerging market stocks.
The year-to-date gross-of-fees performance of MAF ranked in the top six percent within the BNY Mellon “Foundations and Endowments – Total Funds” universe (data as of October 31, the most current available).
Click here to view the Monthly Investment Report for the month of November.
Quarterly Webinar
Wespath will host its Quarterly Webinar on Tuesday, January 24 at 1:30 p.m. CST. To register, please click on the link below.
Register Now
Upcoming Changes to the Multiple Asset Fund
During the month of December, the Multiple Asset Fund will reduce its exposure to U.S. stocks in favor of increasing the fund’s allocation to non-U.S. stocks. Specifically, the long-term target for U.S. equity strategies will decrease from 40% to 35%, while the target for non-U.S. equity strategies will rise from 25% to 30%. With this change, the fund’s allocation to U.S. equities will more closely align with the U.S. equity portion of the global universe of investable stocks. The Multiple Asset Fund’s target allocations to the Fixed Income Fund (25%) and the Inflation Protection Fund (10%) will remain unchanged.
Continued Growth in Assets Under Management
Year-to-date, Wespath has received new inflows in excess of $125 million, including initial investments from two new clients: the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation and United Theological Seminary.
2016 is on pace to be Wespath’s sixth consecutive year of growth in endowment-related investments by institutions affiliated with The United Methodist Church.
Corporate Engagement Successes
Board Diversity—During the 2016 calendar year, three U.S. companies (Comcast, Equifax and Simon Properties), with one woman or fewer on their boards of directors, increased board diversity by adding an additional female director. This followed multi-year efforts by Wespath that included the filing of shareholder resolutions. For more information on Wespath’s belief in the positive correlation between board diversity and performance, and an update on our most recent engagement with Equifax, click here.
Sustainability Reporting—During the fourth quarter, Emerson Electric released a Corporate Social Responsibility Report following Wespath’s ongoing requests that they publish a report of the company’s policies, performance, and improvement targets related to key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. Read more about our successful engagement with Emerson Electric here.
Inflation Protection Fund – Benchmark Update
Wespath has changed the benchmark for the Inflation Protection Fund to a custom blend designed to be more representative of the fund’s underlying strategies. It is composed of the following allocations:
80% Barclays World Government Inflation-Linked (Hedged) Index
10% Barclays Emerging Market Tradable Inflation-Linked (EMTIL) (Unhedged) Index
10% Bloomberg Commodity Index
Staff Updates
Bill Stewart, CFA, joined Wespath as director of institutional relationships in September. Bill is responsible for maintaining and growing relationships with institutional investors, including foundations, annual conferences, higher education institutions, health care organizations and others. His geographic focus will include the Southeast, South Central and Western regions of the United States. To read Wespath’s full announcement, click here.
Nick Abel joined Wespath as specialist within the sustainable investment strategies team in October. Nick works to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into Wespath’s investment process. Nick also leads our corporate governance engagement activities.
Christina Tincher joined Wespath as the marketing manager in November. Christina is responsible for the development of materials designed to inform existing and prospective institutional clients about the services offered by Wespath.
Sylvia Poniecki, director of Wespath’s Positive Social Purpose Lending Program accepted a nomination to serve on the steering committee of the Global Impact Investment Network.
Connect with Us
Copyright © 2016 Wespath Investment Management, a division of Wespath Benefits and Investments, a general agency of The United Methodist Church.
Wespath is located at 1901 Chestnut Avenue
Year-to-date net-of-fees fund performance through November 30, 2016 is available here.
During this period, our flagship fund, the Multiple Asset Fund (MAF), outperformed its blended benchmark, largely due to overweight allocations to small-cap U.S. stocks, high-yield bonds and emerging market debt. Other positive contributing factors were dedicated allocations to commodities and emerging market stocks.
The year-to-date gross-of-fees performance of MAF ranked in the top six percent within the BNY Mellon “Foundations and Endowments – Total Funds” universe (data as of October 31, the most current available).
Click here to view the Monthly Investment Report for the month of November.
Quarterly Webinar
Wespath will host its Quarterly Webinar on Tuesday, January 24 at 1:30 p.m. CST. To register, please click on the link below.
Register Now
Upcoming Changes to the Multiple Asset Fund
During the month of December, the Multiple Asset Fund will reduce its exposure to U.S. stocks in favor of increasing the fund’s allocation to non-U.S. stocks. Specifically, the long-term target for U.S. equity strategies will decrease from 40% to 35%, while the target for non-U.S. equity strategies will rise from 25% to 30%. With this change, the fund’s allocation to U.S. equities will more closely align with the U.S. equity portion of the global universe of investable stocks. The Multiple Asset Fund’s target allocations to the Fixed Income Fund (25%) and the Inflation Protection Fund (10%) will remain unchanged.
Continued Growth in Assets Under Management
Year-to-date, Wespath has received new inflows in excess of $125 million, including initial investments from two new clients: the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation and United Theological Seminary.
2016 is on pace to be Wespath’s sixth consecutive year of growth in endowment-related investments by institutions affiliated with The United Methodist Church.
Corporate Engagement Successes
Board Diversity—During the 2016 calendar year, three U.S. companies (Comcast, Equifax and Simon Properties), with one woman or fewer on their boards of directors, increased board diversity by adding an additional female director. This followed multi-year efforts by Wespath that included the filing of shareholder resolutions. For more information on Wespath’s belief in the positive correlation between board diversity and performance, and an update on our most recent engagement with Equifax, click here.
Sustainability Reporting—During the fourth quarter, Emerson Electric released a Corporate Social Responsibility Report following Wespath’s ongoing requests that they publish a report of the company’s policies, performance, and improvement targets related to key environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks. Read more about our successful engagement with Emerson Electric here.
Inflation Protection Fund – Benchmark Update
Wespath has changed the benchmark for the Inflation Protection Fund to a custom blend designed to be more representative of the fund’s underlying strategies. It is composed of the following allocations:
80% Barclays World Government Inflation-Linked (Hedged) Index
10% Barclays Emerging Market Tradable Inflation-Linked (EMTIL) (Unhedged) Index
10% Bloomberg Commodity Index
Staff Updates
Bill Stewart, CFA, joined Wespath as director of institutional relationships in September. Bill is responsible for maintaining and growing relationships with institutional investors, including foundations, annual conferences, higher education institutions, health care organizations and others. His geographic focus will include the Southeast, South Central and Western regions of the United States. To read Wespath’s full announcement, click here.
Nick Abel joined Wespath as specialist within the sustainable investment strategies team in October. Nick works to integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into Wespath’s investment process. Nick also leads our corporate governance engagement activities.
Christina Tincher joined Wespath as the marketing manager in November. Christina is responsible for the development of materials designed to inform existing and prospective institutional clients about the services offered by Wespath.
Sylvia Poniecki, director of Wespath’s Positive Social Purpose Lending Program accepted a nomination to serve on the steering committee of the Global Impact Investment Network.
Connect with Us
Copyright © 2016 Wespath Investment Management, a division of Wespath Benefits and Investments, a general agency of The United Methodist Church.
Wespath is located at 1901 Chestnut Avenue
Glenview, Illinois 60025, United States.
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