U.S. Equity Fund (USEF)

Overview
Performance
Allocations
Characteristics
Risks & Disclosures

Fund Overview: Objective, Strategy and Holdings

Earn long-term capital appreciation from a broadly diversified portfolio of primarily U.S. stocks.
Holds securities of publicly-traded U.S. based real estate investment trusts (REITs), limited partnership interests in private U.S. real estate and other private investments (venture capital, buyouts, etc.) of U.S. companies.
Holds equity index futures of U.S. stock indexes.
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.

Frank Holsteen

Managing Director, Investment Management

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

Amy Bulger

Director, Private Markets

With Wespath since 2013
B.S. from Northern Illinois University
MBA from the Kellstadt Graduate School of Business at DePaul University

Mark Warren, CFA, CIMA

Manager, Public Equities

With Wespath since 2015
B.S. from Purdue University
CFA Charterholder
CIMA Certification

Management

The U.S. Equity Fund (USEF) invests with investment managers that specialize in broadly diversified strategies. USEF also invests with more than a dozen general partners through its real estate and private equity investments. Over 30% of the Fund is invested in passive strategies while the remainder is actively managed. These managers rely on professional judgment that involves the use of fundamental analysis to select securities. They seek to invest in attractively valued companies that represent above-average long-term investment opportunities. Each active manager has an objective to outperform specific performance benchmarks related to their investment style.

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	December 31, 1997
Exp. Ratio	0.49% for 2022
Benchmark	Russell 3000™ Index
Fund Assets	$5,420 Million as of July 31, 2023
Holdings	June 30, 2023 - PDF and August 31, 2023 - Excel
Unit Price History	Wespath Funds Price History
For More Information	Investment Funds Description – P Series

Relative level of risk compared to other Wespath Funds

Performance, net of fees (as of 09/30/2023)

	3 mo	YTD	1 yr	3 yr	5 yr	10 yr
U.S. Equity Fund	-3.30%	10.84%	18.53%	8.38%	8.18%	10.35%
USEF Benchmark	-3.25%	12.39%	20.46%	9.38%	9.14%	11.28%

Universe Comparison

U.S. Equity Fund vs. Peer Group Universe

Peer Group Performance Comparison

Annualized Performance (Net-of-Fees)

	1 Year	3 Year	5 Year	10 Year
U.S. Equity Fund	18.1%	12.6%	10.2%	11.6%
Median	17.4%	12.8%	9.9%	10.8%
Rank (%) in Universe	42nd	53rd	45th	33rd
# of Observations	659	587	531	366

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

USEF Benchmark

The U.S. Equity Fund performance benchmark is the Russell 3000 Index. The index measures the investment performance of the 3,000 largest (based on total market value) U.S. companies, representing approximately 98% of the publicly traded companies available for investment in the U.S. equity market.

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

Holdings-Based Style Allocations as of June 30, 2023

Style	USEF Actual (%)	USEF Benchmark (%)	Difference (%)
U.S. Equity Securities
Mega Cap	24.7%	47.8%	-23.1%
Large Cap Core	6.6%	8.0%	-1.4%
Large Cap Growth	3.8%	4.9%	-1.1%
Large Cap Value	10.4%	10.7%	-0.3%
Mid Cap Core	11.8%	6.9%	+4.9%
Mid Cap Growth	6.3%	3.8%	+2.5%
Mid Cap Value	16.3%	12.4%	+3.9%
Small Cap Core	2.8%	1.5%	+1.3%
Small Cap Growth	5.1%	2.0%	+3.1%
Small Cap Value	1.7%	2.0%	-0.3%
Alternatives	9.4%	0.0%	+9.4%
Cash	1.1%	0.0%	+1.1%

Characteristics

Fund Statistics as of June 30, 2022

	USEF¹	USEF Benchmark³
Wgt. Mkt. Cap ($MM)	$311,023	$589,090
Price/Earnings	26.11	21.92
Price to Book	3.83	3.92
Dividend Yield²	1.38%	1.49%
Holdings	USEF Holdings

¹ Reflects the portion of the fund portfolio that is invested in public equities and REITs.

² Does not reflect the deduction of fees.

³ The Russell 3000 was reconstituated in July 2019.

Statistics (trailing 5 years)	USEF	USEF Benchmark
Beta	1.00	1.00
R-Squared	0.98	1.00

Top 10 Stock Holdings as of June 30, 2023

Company	Fund %	% of USEF Benchmark
Apple Inc.	2.52%	6.66%
Microsoft Corporation	2.49%	5.83%
Alphabet Inc.	1.39%	3.07%
Amazon.com, Inc.	1.33%	2.70%
NVIDIA Corporation	1.28%	2.31%
Tesla, Inc.	1.14%	1.66%
Super Micro Computer, Inc.	1.02%	0.03%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.	0.96%	1.44%
Johnson & Johnson	0.78%	0.99%
JPMorgan Chase & Co.	0.71%	0.98%

Sector Weightings as of June 30, 2023*

	USEF-P	USEF-P Benchmark
Communication Services	4.9%	7.8%
Consumer Discretionary	9.1%	10.9%
Consumer Staples	3.6%	6.1%
Energy	4.8%	4.1%
Financials	11.2%	13.0%
Health Care	12.1%	13.5%
Industrials	11.9%	9.9%
Information Technology	24.1%	26.4%
Materials	2.4%	2.8%
Real Estate	2.1%	3.0%
Utliities	2.1%	2.5%
Alternatives	9.4%	0.0%
Cash	1.5%	0.0%
Unassigned	0.8%	0.0%

* Sector weights include Private Equity and Private Real Estate categorized as Alternatives. Cash is equitized. Other includes U.S. index futures.

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. USEF 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.

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 additionally, 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 Benefits and Investments, and for non-Fund related activities and operations.

The expense ratio shown on the Fund Overview page is based on the prior year’s data and fee calculation methodology. The fee calculation methodology was changed effective July 1, 2023. The Fund’s actual annual fund operating expenses and the related expense ratio can differ from year to year. 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, including the fee calculation methodology change, please refer to the Investment Funds Description – P Series.

USEF