For Immediate Release
 

Contact: Colette Nies, Managing Director, Communications
(847) 866-4296 or [email protected]

Glenview, IL—Wespath Benefits and Investments (Wespath) will launch two new fixed income funds for institutional investors: the Social Values Choice Bond Fund (SVCBF) and the U.S. Treasury Inflation Protection Fund (USTPF).

Social Values Choice Bond Fund
SVCBF is an actively managed fund for investors who have a heightened focus on companies’ environmental and social performance. It invests in a diversified mix of primarily U.S. fixed income securities and adheres to investment guidelines addressing concerns expressed in petitions approved by a threshold number of annual conferences dealing with:

• Companies that derive a significant amount of revenue from the production of fossil fuels
• Specific companies that are the subject of annual conference resolutions concerning peace in the Middle East

The fund complements the Equity Social Values Plus Fund (ESVPF), a passively-managed fund that adheres to similar investment guidelines and is composed of U.S. and non-U.S.-based public companies.

U.S. Treasury Inflation Protection Fund
USTPF is a passively managed fund that invests primarily in U.S. Treasury inflation indexed bonds. The fund seeks to compensate investors for the effects of rising inflation.

The two funds will become available to institutional investors on July 1. Wespath is evaluating if there is sufficient demand to make this a cost-effective option for participants.

The addition of SVCBF and USTPF to Wespath’s offerings—along with the existing ESVPF—provides investors who have a heightened focus on companies’ environmental and social performance with access to asset class diversification and inflation protection.

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About Wespath Benefits and Investments
Wespath Benefits and Investments is a not-for-profit administrative agency of The United Methodist Church, with Church-authorized fiduciary responsibility for the benefit plans it administers and the assets it invests.

Prudent investment management decisions are an ongoing, long-term priority, supporting benefit plans for over 100,000 participants and approximately $22 billion in assets managed on their behalf, and for many United Methodist-affiliated endowments, foundations and other institutions.

Wespath Benefits and Investments maintains the largest reporting faith-based pension fund in the world, which is among the top 100 pension funds in the United States. Its sustainable investment activities are carried out by Wespath Investment Management, the agency’s investments division.