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Fund Overview: Objective, Strategy and Holdings

This fund is only available to plan sponsors and other institutional investors approved by Wespath under exceptional circumstances.

The U.S. Equity Index Fund (USEIF) shall invest in a portfolio of common stocks as represented by the Russell 3000® index.

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:

Frank Holsteen Image

Frank Holsteen

Managing Director, Investment Management

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

Mark Warren, CFA, CIMA

Manager, Public Equities

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

Management

Blackrock is the primary sub-adviser of USEIF. The Fund employs a passive investment strategy. The performance Benchmark for USEIF is the Russell 3000® index.

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, 2014
Exp. Ratio 0.32% for 2021
Benchmark Russell 3000™ Index
Fund Assets $108 Million as of February 28, 2023
Holdings December 31, 2022 - PDF and February 28, 2023 - Excel
Unit Price History Wespath Funds Price History
For More Information Investment Funds Description – P Series

Performance, net of fees (as of 12/31/2022)

  3 mo YTD 1 yr 3 yr 5 yr 10 yr
U.S. Equity Index Fund 6.97% -19.67% -19.67% 7.06% 8.82% -
USEIF Benchmark 7.18% -19.21% -19.21% 7.07% 8.79% -

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

USEIF Benchmark

The U.S. Equity Index 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 December 31, 2022

Style USEIF Actual (%) USEIF Benchmark (%) Difference (%)
U.S. Equity Securities      
      Mega Cap 43.7% 43.5% +0.2%
      Large Cap Core 9.6% 10.2% -0.6%
      Large Cap Growth 4.6% 4.5% +0.1%
      Large Cap Value 10.3% 11.0% -0.7%
      Mid Cap Core 9.2% 8.9% +0.3%
      Mid Cap Growth 4.3% 4.3% 0.0%
      Mid Cap Value 12.2% 11.5% +0.7%
      Small Cap Core 1.3% 1.6% -0.3%
      Small Cap Growth 2.2% 2.3% -0.1%
      Small Cap Value 2.2% 2.2% 0.0%
    Cash 0.4% 0.0% +0.4%

 

Characteristics

Characteristics as of December 31, 2022

  USEIF1 USEIF Benchmark
Wgt. Mkt. Cap ($MM) $358,415 $359,656
Price/Earnings 18.20 18.19
Price to Book 3.52 3.56
Dividend Yield2 1.66% 1.66%
Holdings USEIF Holdings  

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

2 Does not reflect the deduction of fees.


Risk Characteristics as of December 31, 2022

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


Top 10 Stock Holdings as of December 31, 2022

Company % of Portfolio
Apple Inc. 5.18%
Microsoft Corporation 4.76%
Alphabet Inc. 2.66%
Amazon.com, Inc. 1.97%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 1.47%
UnitedHealth Group Inc. 1.31%
Johnson & Johnson 1.23%
Exxon Mobil Corporation 1.23%
JPMorgan Chase & Co. 1.04%
Proctor & Gamble Company 0.98%

 


Sector Weightings as of December 31, 2022

 

  USEIF-P USEIF-P Benchmark
Communication Services 6.8% 6.8%
Consumer Discretionary 9.7% 10.0%
Consumer Staples 6.4% 6.6%
Energy 5.4% 5.3%
Financials 12.6% 12.3%
Health Care 15.4% 15.6%
Industrials 9.0% 9.8%
Information Technology 24.5% 24.2%
Materials 2.9% 3.0%
Real Estate 3.4% 3.3%
Utliities 3.1% 3.1%
Cash 0.4% 0.0%
Unassigned 0.4% 0.0%

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. USEIF 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 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 USEIF, 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 2021, USEIF’s expenses were 0.32% of the fund’s total assets.