Wespath Benefits and Investments (formerly known as General Board of Pension and Health Benefits) is a non-profit pension agency affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Wespath supervises and administers retirement plans, investment funds, health and welfare benefit plans,etc for active and retired clergy and lay employees of the Church. In accordance with its fiduciary duties, Wespath administers benefit plans and invests approximately $28 billion in assets for over 100,000 participants and over 120 United Methodist-affiliated institutions.
Established in 1908 its current head office is in Glenview, Illinois.[1]
Sustainable Investment
Wespath follows the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.[2] It identifies several countries as having "prolonged and systematic patterns of human rights violations,"[3] including the Central African Republic, Israel, North Korea, and Saudi Arabia.[4] A total of 44 companies are excluded from its investment funds including all of Israel's major banks. The board also excludes a further nine companies due to their contribution to global warming.[5][6]
References
- ^ "Wespath Benefits and Investments - Wespath Benefits and Investments". www.wespath.org.
- ^ UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
- ^ "Human Rights - Sustainable Investment - Wespath Benefits and Investments". www.gbophb.org.
- ^ "Human Rights Guideline Implementation - Wespath Investment Management". www.wespath.com.
- ^ Press, The Associated; Ravid, Barak (10 May 2018). "U.S. Church Puts Five Israeli Banks on Investment Blacklist". Haaretz.
- ^ "Health Index". ABC News.