skip to main content

Fund Overview: Objective, Strategy and Holdings

  • Earn long-term capital appreciation from a passively-managed portfolio of U.S. and non-U.S. domiciled publicly owned companies that fulfills investor preferences for a heightened focus on corporate environmental and social performance.
  • Holds primarily U.S. and non-U.S. public equities
  • Generally does not invest in companies that derive more than 10% of their revenue from gambling or from the manufacture, sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages, tobacco-related products, adult entertainment, weapons, or the management or operation of prison facilities.
  • The fund also generally excludes companies, issuers or securities which:
    • Derive a significant amount of revenue from involvement in the fossil fuel industry; or
    • Are subject to annual conference resolutions concerning peace in the Middle East; or
    • Have been identified by actions of The United Methodist Church’s General Conference

Fund Managers

The following individuals are responsible for the selection and monitoring of external asset managers:

Image alt text

Frank Holsteen

Managing Director, Investment Management

  • With Wespath since 2012
  • B.A. from Lake Forest College
Hoa Quach

Hoa Quach, CFA

Director, Public Markets

  • With Wespath since 2024
  • BBA from University of Notre Dame
  • MBA from University of Chicago
Photo of Virgilio

Virgilio Calahong, CAIA

Manager, Public Equities

  • With Wespath since 2024
  • B.A. from University of Michigan

Xponance*

* Signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment

Please refer to the Investment Funds Description – I Series for a detailed description of the investment strategies used in managing the Fund.


1 Please see the Risk and Disclosure tab for more information on the estimated expense ratio.

Performance

SVCEF-I is a newly formed entity, with an inception date of December 3, 2024. Daily performance information is available at: https://www.wespath.com/fund-performance. WII will update this page with quarterly performance information as it becomes available.

Fund1,2 Performance, Net-of-Fees (as of 09/30/2024)

  3 mo YTD 1 yr 3 yr 5 yr 10 yr

Composite1,4 Performance, Net-of-Fees (as of 09/30/2024)

  3 mo YTD 1 yr 3 yr 5 yr 10 yr

Footnotes

Wespath Benefits and Investments (“Wespath”) is a general agency of The United Methodist Church, a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Wespath administers benefit plans and together with its subsidiaries, UMC Benefit Board, Inc. (“UMCBB”) and Wespath Institutional Investments, LLC (“WII”) invests (or provides back-office services for) assets on behalf of benefit plan participants and beneficiaries, plan sponsors and other institutions controlled by, affiliated with or related to The United Methodist Church (the “Church”). For GIPS compliance purposes, the Firm referenced herein is defined to include Wespath, UMCBB and WII (“Firm”). Wespath claims compliance with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS®). GIPS is a registered trademark of CFA Institute. CFA Institute does not endorse or promote this organization, nor does it warrant the accuracy or quality of the content contained herein. To obtain a copy of Wespath’s GIPS Report, please call us at 1-847-866-4100 or e-mail us at [email protected].

1 The performance shown is for the stated time period only and computed in U.S. Dollars (USD). Historical returns are not indicative of future performance. Investment performance is presented net-of-fees. See Risks and Disclosures for more information regarding fees, including how fees are reflected in performance. The investments of the funds and composites may vary substantially from those in the applicable benchmark. The benchmarks are based on broad-based securities market indices, which are unmanaged, cannot be invested in and are not subject to fees and expenses typically associated with investment funds. Investments cannot be made directly in an index. This chart was produced using data from sources believed to be accurate. The bar chart and table assume reinvestment of distributions.

2 Please refer to the Investment Funds Description - I Series for more information about each Fund. This information is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to purchase securities. The investment funds are neither insured nor guaranteed by the government.

3 Benchmark descriptions can be found here.

4 The performance presented reflects the historical performance record of the composite employed by: (a) Wespath Institutional Investments (WII) through funds called the I Series funds available as of December 3, 2024; and (2) UMC Benefit Board, Inc.an affiliated entity, through funds called the P Series funds and available to certain Institutional Investors (as defined below) prior to December 3, 2024. The composite includes the applicable P Series fund before December 3, 2024. After December 3, 2024 the composite includes both the applicable P Series fund and I Series fund (asset-weighted). The composite for the applicable P Series fund and I Series fund have substantially similar investment objectives and investment strategies and are referred to collectively as “the Composite.” The P Series funds are not available to Institutional Investors other than in exceptional circumstances agreed to by the P Series funds adviser.

Historical returns are not indicative of future performance. Returns presented are time‐weighted returns. Net returns are presented net of actual fees and expenses, including transaction costs, custody fees, sub‐advisory fees, and administrative/overhead expenses and are net of withholding taxes. The portfolios in the Composite do not pay any investment management fees to Wespath. Administrative/overhead expenses are paid by the portfolios in the Composite to Wespath.

Units of the I Series funds are available to organizations related to the Church and organized and operated exclusively for religious, educational, benevolent, fraternal, charitable, or reformatory purpose: (1) no part of the net earnings of which inures to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual; or (2) which is or maintains certain pooled income funds, collective trust funds, collective investment vehicles or similar funds for the collective investment and reinvestment of assets of certain designated vehicles available for charitable investments. All such organizations shall qualify as permissible investors in a fund excepted from the definition of “investment company” contained in Section 3(c) (10) of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (and are referred to as “Institutional Investors”). Certain, but not all, Institutional Investors were eligible to invest in the P Series prior to December 3, 2024.

Characteristics

SVCEF-I is a newly formed entity, with an inception date of December 3, 2024. WII will update this page with characteristics information as it becomes available.

Risks & Disclosures

SVCEF-I is designed for investors who have a heightened focus on corporate environmental and social performance, seek long-term investment growth through exposure to the U.S. and non-U.S. public equities of companies, and are willing to accept the risk of wide fluctuations in the unit price of the fund.

All investments carry some degree of risk that will affect the value of SVCEF-I’s holdings, its investment performance and the price of its units. As a result, loss of money is a risk of investing in the fund. SVCEF-I is subject to the following principal investment risks: market risk, investment style risk, security-specific risk, country risk, currency risk, derivatives risk and liquidity risk. Additionally, SVCEF-I is subject to modestly increased diversification risk, as compared to broad-market passively-managed equity funds, as a result of the exclusion of a significant number of stocks from the investment universe.

The performance shown is for the stated time period only and computed in U.S. Dollars (USD). Historical returns are not indicative of future performance. For further discussion of the Fund’s investments strategies and risks, please refer to the Investment Funds Description – I Series. This is not an offer to purchase securities.

Valuation of SVCEF-I Units

In the daily valuation of SVCEF-I units, Wespath uses a valuation methodology to capture changes in non-U.S. securities values that arise because of time-zone differences among global securities markets. Many non-U.S. securities trade on exchanges that close several hours before SVCEF-I’s closing unit price is calculated in the United States, generally at 4 p.m. Eastern time. In the hours between the close of the non-U.S. markets and the close of the U.S. market, the value of the non-U.S. securities may change due to a variety of factors including, for example, company-specific announcements or market-wide developments. SVCEF-I’s daily return may diverge from the daily return of its benchmark index, in part, because the benchmark index values do not reflect such price adjustments.

Lending of Portfolio Securities

SVCEF-I seeks to earn additional income by lending a portion of its portfolio securities to brokers, dealers and other financial institutions. The loans are secured at all times by cash and liquid high-grade debt obligations. As with any extension of credit, there are risks of delay in recovery and in some cases even loss of rights in the collateral should the borrower fail financially. In addition, losses could result from the reinvestment of the cash collateral received on loaned securities.


Expense Ratio

The expense ratio is a measure of the annual fund operating expenses paid by the Fund expressed as a percentage of the average fair value of the Fund’s assets for the applicable year. The annual fund operating expenses consist of fees paid to subadvisor(s), and the Fund’s pro rata portion of custody fees and administrative and overhead expenses incurred by the overall Wespath Benefits and Investments organization in connection with providing investment, operating and administrative support to the Fund and the other funds available through Wespath Institutional Investments.

The estimated expense ratio of 0.235 – 0.255% is based on expected asset balances and fees and expenses at the Fund’s launch. There can be no guarantee that the Fund’s actual annual fund operating expenses and the related expense ratio will match these amounts. Actual annual fund operating expenses may vary depending on, among other things, market events, Fund size, transaction costs, timing of Fund inflows and outflows, and applicable internal costs and third-party fees.

The Fund may also pay transaction costs, performance fees, interest expenses, taxes and fees on uninvested cash held in sweep accounts, which are in addition to the annual fund operating expenses. The annual fund operating expenses and these additional expenses are reflected in the Fund’s unit price and reduce the Fund’s rate of return. For further information about the Fund’s fees and expenses, please refer to the  Investment Funds Description – I Series.