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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.

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
Amy Bulger Image

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

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 Performance 1,2,3, Net-of-Fees (as of 12/31/2023)

  3 mo YTD 1 yr 3 yr 5 yr 10 yr
U.S. Equity Fund 10.25% 22.20% 22.20% 5.77% 14.10% 10.48%
USEF Benchmark 12.07% 25.96% 25.96% 8.54% 15.16% 11.48%

Universe Comparison

U.S. Equity Fund vs. Peer Group Universe

Peer Group Performance Comparison

Peer group performance comparison

Annualized Performance (Net-of-Fees)

  1 Year 3 Year 5 Year 10 Year
U.S. Equity Fund 22.2% 5.8% 14.1% 10.5%
Median 22.8% 7.9% 14.0% 9.9%
Rank (%) in Universe 54th 71st 48th 37th
# of Observations 638 571 529 368

Peer Group Performance Comparison and Annualized Performance (Net-of-Fees) data as of December 31, 2023.

Source: Lipper. Lipper Multi-Cap core Universe is a group of mutual funds comparable to USEF. This Universe consists of a Lipper predefined Universe of "Multi-Cap Core funds".


Footnotes

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].

1 The performance shown is for the stated time period only, is computed in U.S. Dollars (USD) and reflects time‐weighted returns. Historical returns are not indicative of future performance. Investment performance is presented net-of-fees. See Risks and Disclosures for more information regarding fees, including how fees are reflected in performance. The investments of the Fund may vary substantially from those in the applicable benchmark. Benchmarks are based on broad-based securities market indices, which are unmanaged, cannot be invested in and are not subject to fees and expenses typically associated with investment funds. Investments cannot be made directly in an index. The bar chart and tables were produced using data from sources believed to be accurate. The bar chart and tables assume reinvestment of dividends, interest and other distributions. This information is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to purchase securities.

2 Please refer to the Investment Funds Description – P Series for more information about the Fund. The investment funds are neither insured nor guaranteed by the government.

3 Benchmark descriptions can be found here.

Allocations

Holdings-Based Style Allocations as of December 31, 2023
Style USEF Actual (%) USEF Benchmark (%) Difference (%)
U.S. Equity Securities      
      Mega Cap 26.2% 48.2% -22.0%
      Large Cap Core 4.9% 8.3% -3.4%
      Large Cap Growth 4.4% 4.8% -0.4%
      Large Cap Value 10.8% 10.4% +0.4%
      Mid Cap Core 9.6% 7.0% +2.6%
      Mid Cap Growth 5.6% 3.8% +1.8%
      Mid Cap Value 19.8% 12.1% +7.7%
      Small Cap Core 2.7% 1.5% +1.2%
      Small Cap Growth 4.3% 1.9% +2.4%
      Small Cap Value 1.8% 2.0% -0.2%
Alternatives 9.2% 0.0% +9.2%
Cash 0.7% 0.0% +0.7%

 

Characteristics

Fund Statistics as of December 31, 2023
  USEF1 USEF Benchmark3
Wgt. Mkt. Cap ($MM) $325,983 $627,706
Price/Earnings 24.99 22.73
Price to Book 3.90 4.08
Dividend Yield2 1.35% 1.43%
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.


Risk Characteristics as of December 31, 2023
Statistics (trailing 5 years) USEF USEF Benchmark
Beta 0.99 1.00
R-Squared 0.98 1.00

Top 10 Stock Holdings as of December 31, 2023
Company Fund % % of USEF Benchmark
Microsoft Corporation 2.40% 6.03%
Apple Inc. 2.32% 6.12%
Amazon.com, Inc. 1.45% 2.95%
Alphabet Inc. 1.43% 3.31%
NVIDIA Corporation 1.31% 2.53%
Tesla, Inc. 0.98% 1.48%
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 0.96% 1.41%
Meta Platforms, Inc. 0.80% 1.69%
JPMorgan Chase & Co. 0.80% 1.06%
Super Micro Computer, Inc. 0.74% 0.03%

 

Sector Weightings as of December 31, 2023*
  USEF-P USEF-P Benchmark
Communication Services 4.9% 8.0%
Consumer Discretionary 9.1% 10.9%
Consumer Staples 3.6% 5.7%
Energy 4.7% 4.0%
Financials 12.3% 13.7%
Health Care 11.9% 12.6%
Industrials 11.8% 10.0%
Information Technology 24.1% 27.2%
Materials 2.5% 2.7%
Real Estate 2.2% 3.0%
Utliities 2.1% 2.3%
Alternatives 9.3% 0.0%
Cash 0.8% 0.0%
Unassigned 0.7% 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 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. 2023 Expense Ratios reflect a recent change to the fee calculation methodology. The methodology for calculating the funds’ Administrative and Overhead Expenses—one component of overall Expense Ratios—was changed (effective July 1, 2023) to better align with the level of resources required by Wespath to administer each P Series fund. This methodology is applicable for the entire year beginning January 1, 2024.

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.