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Fund Overview: Objective, Strategy and Holdings

U.S. Treasury Inflation Protection Fund (USTPF) seeks to provide investors with current income and to protect principal from long-term loss of purchasing power due to inflation by investing primarily in U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS).

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
Connie Christian portrait

Connie Christian, CFA

Manager, Fixed Income

  • With Wespath since 2023
  • B.S. in finance from Xavier University
  • MBA from Xavier University

Management

Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers is the primary subadviser of USTPF. The fund employs a passive investment strategy. The performance benchmark for USTPF is the Bloomberg U.S. Inflation Linked Bond Index. USTPF may use a sampling approach as an efficient and cost-effective alternative for creating a portfolio that closely matches the overall characteristics of the performance benchmark without investing in all of the fixed income securities in the benchmark.

External Asset Managers

* Signatory to the United Nations Principles for Responsible Investment

 

U.S. TIPS Performance in Wespath’s Inflation Protection Fund

Neuberger Berman Investment Advisers LLC has managed a portfolio of U.S. TIPS in Wespath’s Inflation Protection Fund since January 31, 2004 ("U.S. Treasury Inflation Linked Assets").

 

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 June 30, 2017
Exp. Ratio 0.28% for 2022
Benchmark Bloomberg U.S. Inflation Linked Bond Index
Fund Assets $470 Million as of July 31, 2023
Holdings June 30, 2023
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 09/30/2023)

  3 mo YTD 1 yr 3 yr 5 yr 10 yr
U.S. Treasury Inflation Protection Fund -2.87% -1.27% 0.63% -2.63% 1.78% -
USTPF Benchmark -2.80% -0.87% 1.24% -2.27% 2.08% -

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

USTPF Benchmark

The U.S. Treasury Inflation Protection Fund performance benchmark is the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Inflation Linked Bond Index. The index measures the investment performance of U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities.


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

Fund Characteristics as of June 30, 2023

  USTPF USTPF Benchmark
Effective Duration 7.36 7.06
Effective Convexity 0.01 0.01
Real Yield to Worst1 2.09% 2.15%
Effective Maturity 7.98 7.61
Average Quality of Stocks AAA AAA

1 Does not reflect the deduction of fees.

Credit Quality Distribution as of June 30, 2023

  USTPF USTPF Benchmark
Cash 0.2% 0.0%
AAA 99.8% 100.0%
Other 0.0% 0.0%

Sector Distribution as of June 30, 2023

  USTPF USTPF Benchmark
U.S. Treasury Inflation Protected Securities 99.8% 100.0%
Other 0.2% 0.0%

Maturity Distribution as of June 30, 2023

  USTPF USTPF Benchmark
< 1 Year 0.2% 0.0%
1 Year - 5 Years 46.8% 51.2%
5 Years - 10 Years 35.2% 31.2%
10 Years - 20 Years 5.3% 6.6%
> 20 Years 12.5% 11.0%

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. USTPF is subject to the following principal investment risks: credit risk, deflation risk, interest rate risk, market 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 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.