Investment Solutions for United Methodist Organizations
Performance Updates
Investors in Wespath funds benefited from a broad-based market rally in March:
Emerging market stocks (as measured by the MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index) gained 12.8%
Emerging market inflation-linked bonds (as measured by the Barclays Emerging Markets Tradable Inflation-Linked USD Unhedged Index) returned 8.8%
Commodities (as measured by the Bloomberg Commodity Index) rose 3.8%
The Euro climbed 4.8% in value versus the U.S. Dollar
U.S. high-yield bonds (as measured by the Citi High Yield Cash Pay Capped Index)returned 4.5%
Net-of-fees, returns for the Wespath funds for the year-to-date period (ended March 31) are available here.
The March Investment Report includes an overview of the markets, information on economic and geopolitical developments, and fund performance data for the month of March, as well as year-to-date.
Corporate Engagement Successes— Caterpillar, Comcast, Simon Property Group, and Equifax
Supporting the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles)—Wespath’s corporate engagement efforts with Caterpillar have proven to be productive. Caterpillar recently announced that in alignment with the Guiding Principles, it has expanded its human rights policy, provided more detailed reporting on the policy implementation to its board, and conducted a human rights impact assessment across its entire value chain, including its suppliers and dealers. Wespath engages with the management teams of many of the companies in which it invests to address human rights and other environmental, social and governance issues based on the belief that these dialogues often lead to changes in business practices that ultimately benefit investors.
Helping Place Women on Boards—Wespath’s corporate engagement efforts have successfully influenced Comcast and Simon Property Group to increase the number of female directors on their corporate boards. Consequently, Wespath has withdrawn shareholder resolutions with both S&P 500 companies. Simon Property Group, one of the country’s largest real estate companies and owners of shopping malls across the U.S., has agreed to amend its board recruitment policy to explicitly include women and minorities—as requested in our shareholder resolution. We have also withdrawn a resolution filed with Equifax following its commitment to add a woman to its board in 2017. We strongly believe board diversity demonstrates a measure of sound corporate governance, which ultimately helps maximize long-term value for Wespath’s investors.
Low Carbon Energy Solutions Strategies Added to Two Wespath Equity Funds
Wespath recently invested $250 million in two “low carbon energy solutions” equity strategies. The investments were divided evenly between the U.S. Equity Fund and International Equity Fund and increase Wespath’s exposure to companies that the manager believes are best positioned for a global transition to a lower carbon economy.
Staff Additions
Monica Huang joined Wespath as Investment Analyst, Public Equities. Monica will help the Investment Management team analyze, monitor and evaluate investment portfolios and manager performance.
Quarterly Update Webinar—April 21
Wespath will host its “Quarterly Update” webinar at 1:30 p.m. Central time on Thursday, April 21. To register, please click the button below.
Register Now
Upcoming Events
Wespath will be among the sponsors of:
The National Association of Schools and Colleges of The United Methodist Church (NASCUMC) Annual Meeting in Lake Tahoe, CA July 24-27.
The 2016 National Association of United Methodist Foundations (NAUMF) National Meeting in Portland, ME October 12-14.
Connect with Us
Copyright © 2016 Wespath, a division of the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits of The United Methodist Church.
Wespath is located at 1901 Chestnut Avenue
Glenview, Illinois 60025, United States.
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