Wespath "Wespath to Launch New Fund | Webinar on 12/18" for Monday, 24 November 2014

Investment Solutions for United Methodist Organizations

Wespath "Wespath to Launch New Fund | Webinar on 12/18" for Monday, 24 November 2014 Highlights In response to demand from existing and prospective clients, Wespath will be launching a new fund, the Equity Social Values Plus Fund (ESVPF), effective January 2, 2015. The ESVPF will invest in publicly traded stocks of companies domiciled in the U.S. (60%) and other developed countries (40%). The fund will apply a passive investment strategy with a custom benchmark composed of constituent companies of the MSCI USA Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Index and the MSCI World ex-USA ESG Index, with a specific emphasis on those with highly rated sustainable policies and practices related to: The environment Diversity Employee relations Human rights Product quality Safety To learn more about this new fund offering, we invite you to participate in a webinar that Wespath will host on Thursday, December 18, at 2:30 p.m. Central time. To register, please click here.   During the third quarter: The funds managed by Wespath received significant new inflows from the United Methodist Foundation of West Virginia, Inc. (Charleston, WV). The Methodist Children's Homes of Mississippi opted to become a sponsor of the United Methodist Personal Investment Plan (UMPIP) defined contribution plan, which currently comprises well over $3 billion of the $20-plus billion in fund assets managed by Wespath. Wespath allocated over $12 million of assets in the Fixed Income Fund to market-rate loans originated to support affordable housing to low and moderate income seniors and families throughout California. This "affordable housing loan" segment of the Fixed Income Fund was the best performing sector year-to-date (as of September 30, 2014), generating a return of 6.4%. Performance Updates The net-of-fees returns for the Wespath funds for the year-to-date period ended October 31, 2014 are available here. On Wednesday, January 21, 2014 Wespath will host its “Quarterly Update” webinar at 1:30 p.m. Central time. To register, please click here. View the October 2014 Investment Report, including an overview of the markets for the previous month, information on economic and geopolitical developments that impact the markets, and fund performance data for the month of October, as well as year-to-date. Insights and Commentary from Wespath Wespath’s Frank Holsteen authored a white paper, “Protecting Investors from Inflation – The Inflation Protection Fund Approach” in which he examines a variety of diversifying strategies designed to provide investors with current income while protecting principal from a loss of purchasing power due to inflation. Holsteen is a member of the team responsible for managing Wespath’s Inflation Protection Fund and Fixed Income Fund. Upcoming Events Wespath is among the sponsors of: The 2015 National Association of Schools and Colleges of The United Methodist Church (NASCUMC) gathering in Washington, DC, February 1-2.

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