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Fund Overview: Objective, Strategy and Holdings

  • Earn current income while preserving capital and providing exposure to long term interest rates by primarily investing in a diversified mix of fixed income instruments.
  • Holds publicly traded U.S. fixed income securities, fixed income instruments denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar, and includes private debt securities.
  • May hold privately placed loans originated by the Positive Social Purpose Lending Program (e.g., affordable housing and community development loans).
  • The Fund 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.

ETFIF will seek exposure to longer term fixed income security yields while accepting the higher risk associated with market interest rate changes. At its inception and for a period of time thereafter, the Fund will seek to reduce the risk of market interest rate changes, but not eliminate them. For more information, see the Investment Funds Description.

Fund Managers

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

Frank Holsteen Image

Frank Holsteen

Managing Director, Investment Management

  • With Wespath since 2012
  • B.A. from Lake Forest College
Nizida photo

Nízida Arriaga, CFA

Manager, Fixed Income

  • With Wespath since 2019
  • Bachelor's degree from the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüéz
  • MBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison

Management

ETFIF invests with four different investment management firms that use a combination of active and enhanced management styles. Wespath’s Positive Social Purpose Lending Program may make up to 10% of the Fund’s allocation.

External Asset Managers

* Signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment

 

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

Fund Snapshot
Inception May 29, 2015
Exp. Ratio 0.38% for 2020
Benchmark Bloomberg Barclays US Long Gov/Cred
Fund Assets $1,620 Million as of December 31, 2021
Holdings September 30, 2021
Unit Price History Wespath Funds Price History
For More Information Investment Funds Description – P Series

Relative level of risk compared to other Wespath Funds

Graphic of relative level of risk compared to other Wespath Funds.

Performance, net of fees (as of 12/31/2021)

  3 mo YTD 1 yr 3 yr 5 yr 10 yr
Extended Term Fixed Income Fund 0.79% -2.26% -2.26% 7.71% 5.62% -
ETFIF Benchmark 2.15% -2.52% -2.52% 10.62% 7.39% -

See Risk and Disclosures for more information regarding Net of Fees Performance.

ETFIF Benchmark

The Extended Term Fixed Income Fund performance benchmark is the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Long Government/Credit Bond Index.


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].

Characteristics

Characteristics as of September 30, 2021

  ETFIF ETFIF Benchmark
Effective Duration 11.50 16.82
Effective Covexity 1.95 3.76
Yield to Worst* 2.65% 2.67%
Effective Maturity 14.08 23.69

* Does not reflect the deduction of fees.

Credit Quality Distribution as of September 30, 2021

  ETFIF ETFIF Benchmark
AAA 47.5% 43.2%
AA 4.8% 10.0%
A 13.9% 22.8%
BBB 22.7% 23.9%
BB 5.7% 0.0%
B 2.7% 0.0%
< B 0.5% 0.0%
NR 1.0% 0.0%
Cash 1.1% 0.0%

Sector Distribution as of September 30, 2021

  ETFIF ETFIF Benchmark
US Treas 18.9% 40.8%
US Gov 3.5% 3.7%
US Corp 36.8% 55.5%
Non-US Gov 0.3% 0.0%
Non-US Corp 2.1% 0.0%
High Yield 5.0% 0.0%
EM Debt 3.4% 0.0%
MBS 12.2% 0.0%
ABS 1.8% 0.0%
CMBS 5.5% 0.0%
CMO 8.8% 0.0%
Other 1.7% 0.0%

Risks & Disclosures

ETFIF is designed for investors with a longer investment time horizon who seek a greater portion of their investment return from current income rather than capital appreciation but exhibit a willingness to incur significant fluctuations in investment value due to higher levels of interest rate risk. Fund investments carry some degree of risk that will affect the value of ETFIF’s investments, its investment performance and the price of its units. As a result, loss of money is a risk of investing in the Fund. ETFIF is subject to the following principal investment risks: credit risk, country risk, currency risk, derivatives risk, interest rate risk, investment style risk, liquidity risk, market risk, prepayment risk, security-specific risk and yield curve risk.

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 – P Series. This is not an offer to purchase securities.

Lending of Portfolio Securities

The Fund 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

All expenses of the Fund are deducted from the Fund’s net asset value. The expenses include investment management fees, operating expenses, bank custodial fees and miscellaneous Fund administration expenses. These expenses are paid directly by ETFIF, and are reflected in the unit price calculated for the Fund. The unit price is multiplied by the number of units held in each client’s account to determine the total value of the client’s holdings in the Fund. For 2020, ETFIF’s expenses were 0.38% of the fund’s total assets.