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Fund Overview: Objective, Strategy and Holdings

  • The Multiple Asset Fund seeks to maximize long-term investment returns, including current income and capital appreciation, while reducing short-term risk by investing in a broad mix of investments.
  • Holds a pre-specified allocation of units of the following Wespath funds: Fixed Income Fund (FIF), Inflation Protection Fund (IPF), International Equity Fund (IEF) and U.S. Equity Fund (USEF).
  • 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.

Fund Managers

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

Dave Zellner Image

David H. Zellner

Chief Investment Officer

  • With Wespath since 1997
  • Co-authored the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment (UNPRI)
  • B.S. in finance from Louisiana State University
  • MBA from the University of Houston
Frank Holsteen portrait photo

Frank Holsteen

Managing Director, Investment Management

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

Management

The Multiple Asset Fund (MAF), through its investment in the four other Wespath funds, participates in the management styles of more than 35 different investment management firms. These managers provide the fund with broad diversification of holdings in a variety of U.S. and non-U.S. securities. These include stocks, traditional bonds, inflation-linked bonds, real estate investment trusts, securities, commodities, and interests in private equity and private real estate partnerships. In addition, through FIF, MAF holds participation interests in loans originated through Wespath’s Positive Social Purpose Lending Program.

Wespath Funds

MAF is a "fund of funds," managed by more than 35 different investment managers. For a detailed list of managers, please see the individual funds pages for:

 

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 1, 2002
Exp. Ratio 0.59% for 2020
Benchmark MAF Benchmark
Fund Assets $7,845 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
Multiple Asset Fund 2.57% 8.75% 8.75% 15.89% 11.50% 9.70%
MAF Benchmark 4.00% 11.61% 11.61% 15.46% 10.98% 9.68%

Universe Comparison

Multiple Asset Fund vs. Peer Group Universe

Peer Group Performance Comparison

Peer group performance comparison

Annualized Performance (Gross-of-Fees)

  1-Year 3-Years 5-Years 10-Years
Multiple Asset Fund 20.01% 11.38% 10.96% 10.10%
Median 17.40% 9.06% 8.70% 8.84%
Rank in Universe 30th 19th 22nd 28th
# of Observations 735 689 620 468

Peer Group Performance Comparison and Annualized Performance (Net-of-Fees) data as of September 30, 2021.

Source: Lipper. Lipper Multiple Asset Fund Universe is a group of mutual funds comparable to MAF. Lipper utilized all mutual funds included in the pre-defined Lipper classification universes of "Mixed-Asset Target Allocation Moderate" and "Mixed-Asset Target Allocation Aggressive Growth" to construct this Universe.

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

MAF Benchmark

The Multiple Asset Fund performance benchmark is the 35% Russell 3000 Index, 30% MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) ex-USA Investable Market Index (IMI), 25% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Universal Index ex-Mortgage Backed Securities (MBS) and 10% Inflation Protection Fund (IPF) Benchmark, effective January 1, 2017. The IPF Benchmark consists of 80% Bloomberg Barclays World Government Inflation Linked Bond Index (Hedged), 10% Bloomberg Barclays Emerging Market Tradeable Inflation Linked Bond Index (Unhedged) and 10% Bloomberg Commodity Index. From January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2016, the benchmark for MAF was 40% Russell 3000 Index, 25% MSCI ACWI ex-USA IMI, 25% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Universal Index ex-MBS, and 10% IPF Benchmark. From January 1, 2014 to December 31, 2015, the benchmark for MAF was 40% Russell 3000 Index, 25% MSCI ACWI ex-USA IMI, 25% Bloomberg U.S. Universal Index ex-MBS, and 10% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Government Inflation Linked Bond Index. From January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2013, the benchmark was 45% Russell 3000 Index, 20% MSCI ACWI ex-USA IMI, 25% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Universal Index MBS and 10% Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Government Inflation Linked Bond Index. Prior to January 1, 2006, the benchmark was 47% Russell 3000 Index, 15% MSCI EAFE Index, 3% MSCI Emerging Markets Index and 35% Lehman Brothers U.S. Universal 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].

Allocations

Fund Allocations as of September 30, 2021

MAF Fund Allocations

Fund Allocations Target Range Actual
U.S. Equity Fund (USEF) 32%-38% 35.5%
International Equity Fund (IEF) 27%-33% 29.1%
Fixed Income Fund (FIF) 22%-28% 24.7%
Inflation Protection Fund (IPF) 7%-13% 10.2%
MAF Alternative (DISCO) 0%-5% 0.4%
Cash 0%-2% 0.1%

 

Risks & Disclosures

All investments carry some degree of risk that will affect the value of the Fund’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. MAF is subject to the following principal investment risks: market risk, investment style risk, security-specific risk, credit risk, country risk, currency risk, deflation risk, derivatives risk, interest rate risk, prepayment risk and liquidity 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 MAF, 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, MAF’s expenses were 0.59% of the fund’s total assets.