By: Joe Halwax and Raj Khan
May 12, 2025
The prolonged dominance of the United States in global equity markets appears to have hit a pause. From the beginning of the year through the end of April, the S&P 500 Index of U.S. stocks underperformed the MSCI ACWI ex-U.S. Index by more than 16%. Wespath's Joe Halwax and Raj Khan dig into the reasons for this emerging trend and examine whether it's likely to continue.
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By Johara Farhadieh
Chief Investment Officer (CIO)
April 8, 2025
Wespath CIO Johara Farhadieh reflects on the market volatility brought on by recent tariff announcements and shares a reminder on the enduring principles of long-term investing.
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By: The Wespath Team
April 3, 2025
Wespath’s quarterly letter for institutional investors provides pertinent market and fund information, plus insights from members of our investment team. For the first quarter of 2025, we explore the pullback in U.S. stocks and the market’s reaction to tariff announcements. We also highlight how Wespath develops custom client portfolios based on the unique needs and objectives of the organizations we serve!
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By: Johara Farhadieh and Joe Halwax
March 24, 2025
The dominance of the Magnificent 7 stocks has led to significant concentration in equity market indexes. Is that effect creating a risk for passive investors? Wespath's Johara Farhadieh and Joe Halwax consider that question, and more, in this blog.
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By Joe Halwax CAIA, CIMA
Senior Managing Director, Institutional Investment Services
March 10, 2025
We explore how tariffs that were levied against Mexico and Canada, and then paused, could impact the markets, the economy and consumers.
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By: Johara Farhadieh and Joe Halwax
February 3, 2025
Did you catch the recent headlines about “DeepSeek,” the AI model competing with ChatGPT? Wespath CIO Johara Farhadieh and Managing Director Joe Halwax shared their thoughts on the story—and what it means for Wespath’s investors.
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By: The Wespath Team
January 6, 2025
Wespath’s quarterly letter for institutional investors provides pertinent market and fund information, plus insights from members of our investment team. For the fourth quarter of 2024, we explore the market’s reaction to the U.S. elections and highlight how Wespath’s investment process drove the launch of two new funds.
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By: Fred Huang
December 30, 2024
Baking and investment management produce the best (and tastiest!) results when you have the right mix of ingredients, precision, patience, an understanding of risk and a love of learning.
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By: Karen Manczko and the Wespath Team
December 16, 2024
As the year comes to a close, it’s natural to reflect on how quickly time seems to pass. The holidays, with all their sparkle and tradition, feel like a moment to pause and take stock—not just of our plans for celebrations, but of the time we’ve invested in what truly matters.
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By Jake Barnett
November 15, 2024
Recently, Wespath sought out a new investment strategy focused on infrastructure. The process led to a great example of cross-departmental collaboration and asset manager due diligence.
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By: Karen Manczko
October 11, 2024
As the presidential election draws closer, it's important to understand how such events can influence the markets and why, as long-term investors, we don’t make shifts based on anticipated election outcomes.
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By: The Wespath Team
October 6, 2024
Wespath’s quarterly letter for institutional investors provides pertinent market and fund information, plus insights from members of our investment team. For the third quarter of 2024, we dive into the Fed's interest rate cut, the potential for renewed interest in small-cap stocks, why it's important to be a patient investor, and more.
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By Johara Farhadieh
Chief Investment Officer (CIO)
September 30, 2024
New Chief Investment Officer Johara Farhadieh cares deeply about mission-driven organizations. Discover how she uses that passion—and her professional experience—to help the people and institutional investors Wespath serves.
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By Johara Farhadieh
Chief Investment Officer (CIO)
September 23, 2024
New Chief Investment Officer Johara Farhadieh explains why an inclusive approach to hiring asset managers can improve investment returns.
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By Johara Farhadieh
Chief Investment Officer (CIO)
September 9, 2024
New Chief Investment Officer Johara Farhadieh often talks about how Wespath provides investment excellence. To help you better understand her approach and priorities, Johara explains how asset managers, fees and Wespath staff all play a role in providing investment excellence.
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By Joe Halwax, CAIA, CIMA
Managing Director, Institutional Investment Services
and Rashed Khan
Director, Portfolio Risk and Analytics
August 16, 2024
Japan’s Nikkei index fell 12.4% on August 4, and then rallied 10% the next day. This volatility, which has been associated with an unwinding of the “yen carry trade,” spilled over to global markets. We explore how these sort of short-term market oscillations impact a long-term U.S.-based investor like Wespath.
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By Joe Halwax CAIA, CIMA
Managing Director, Institutional Investment Services
While there are very few guarantees in the financial markets, through the first six months of 2024, things are looking fairly positive for investors. The U.S. economy remains resilient, and market leaders like Nvidia keep chugging along. What else is driving returns so far this year? What should we be watching in the coming months? Wespath’s Joe Halwax answers these questions, and more, in our latest blog.
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By Chirag Acharya
Manager, Sustainable Investment Stewardship
Lucas Schoeppner
Senior Analyst, Sustainable Investment Stewardship
June 17, 2024
Proxy voting refers to casting ballots as a shareholder on corporate governance-related matters at the annual general meetings (AGMs) of the companies in which we invest. All shareholders have the right to participate in AGMs and vote on a variety of corporate governance topics. It’s not typically as dramatic as it’s been depicted on shows like Succession, but it’s no doubt an important element of making our voices heard as an investor.
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By Andy Hendren
General Secretary and Chief Executive Officer
May 22, 2024
Just a few short weeks after returning home from General Conference, the governing convention and legislative body of The United Methodist Church (UMC), I’m still filled with excitement about Wespath’s support of a renewed, aligned and inclusive Church.
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By Joe Halwax, CAIA, CIMA
Managing Director, Institutional Investment Services
April 2, 2024
Through the first quarter of 2024, U.S. economic data has remained somewhat strong. U.S. stocks have continued to climb higher, led by growth and technology names. The S&P 500 returned 10.6% in the first quarter, touching a new high of 5,245 at the end of March.
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By Frank Holsteen
Managing Director, Investment Management
March 18, 2024
If stocks traditionally provide the highest expected returns, why shouldn't you invest your entire portfolio in them? Frank Holsteen, Wespath's Managing Director of Investment Management, examines this question in our latest blog.
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By Joe Halwax, CAIA, CIMA
Managing Director, Institutional Investment Services
March 4, 2024
Technology-fueled excitement is once again driving a remarkable runup in stocks. But is today’s “Magnificent 7” domination really the same as the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s? In our latest blog, Wespath’s Joe Halwax digs into the characteristics of each era, shares his thoughts on what makes the Magnificent 7 different, and highlights why the real question might be which opportunities will emerge from the rest of the stock market.
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By Joe Halwax, CAIA, CIMA
Managing Director, Institutional Investment Services
and Rashed Khan
Director, Portfolio Risk and Analytics
January 2, 2024
In our latest blog, Wespath’s Joe Halwax and Raj Khan provide their insights on the top stories from Q4 and 2023 – covering everything from the dominance of the “Magnificent 7” to why continued calls for a recession are starting to sound like a Taylor Swift concert, and much more. Joe and Raj also highlight a few key themes for 2024 to get your New Year started off right!
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By Joe Halwax, CAIA, CIMA
Managing Director, Institutional Investment Services
and Myles Smith
Investment Analyst
December 18, 2023
We reached out to several Wespath colleagues with the same set of five questions to learn how they make the most of the holidays and to find out about some of their new, exciting experiences in 2023. We hope you enjoy learning more about the people behind the Wespath funds—and maybe get inspired to try something new in the process.
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