A Personal Connection to Wespath's Values

   By Jake Barnett, CIMA
   Director, Sustainable Investment Stewardship
 
   February 22, 2022

This summer my cousin Jessica died from a drug overdose. This was a tragic surprise to both me and my family—while we knew Jessica had some difficulties in life, we did not understand she was using drugs to cope.

I have had family members pass away from natural causes, and I have also read about deaths from drug overdoses through Wespath's work with the Investors for Opioid and Pharmaceutical Accountability (IOPA) coalition. There is an obvious difference, though, between reading about the tragic impact of an overdose and witnessing it for yourself. Going through the physically and emotionally exhausting experience of helping clean out Jessica's apartment, I witnessed firsthand the destructive effect that addiction had on my cousin. It was devastating to wade through filthy living conditions, see the needles casually strewn about, and realize that someone I loved was living this way. Talking with Jessica's mother and sister, I also gained deeper empathy as to how a sudden drug-related death can strike a family with overwhelming sorrow and disbelief.

We firmly ground all our stewardship work at Wespath in our fiduciary duty as long-term investors, and the opioid epidemic is no exception. There are clear links between the opioid epidemic and financial risk for companies and broader society that justify investor efforts to address this crisis.¹

However, my experience with my cousin's death has given me a deeper appreciation for working at a faith-based institution that operates from values of care and compassion, in addition to fiduciary concern.

At Wespath, our charter document, The Book of Discipline, charges us to "make a conscious effort to invest…with the goals outlined in the Social Principles" (¶717). Looking at the 2016 United Methodist Church (UMC) Social Principles, there is also direct connection between our work on opioids and our values: "Drug-dependent persons and their family members… are individuals of infinite human worth deserving of treatment, rehabilitation, and ongoing life-changing recovery." This specific connection is also wrapped in a more all-encompassing call from the Social Principles to practice "an active and engaged love, a love seeking justice and liberty."

Realistically, practicing this love may be one of the most difficult tasks we are called to within our work at Wespath. Keeping our hearts open to practice active and engaged love can feel draining and overwhelming. It can be tempting to emotionally distance ourselves from stories of human suffering and complexity, such as I witnessed with my cousin, and instead focus on "win-win" solutions and how sustainable investment can improve financial returns.

However, after my experience with my cousin, I find myself more committed to asking what role this active and engaged love should play in shaping our work. To this end, I am committed to acknowledging that the people impacted by the issues we work on are not just abstractions, or numbers on a sheet: they are real people with families, communities, hopes and fears, strengths, and failures. I am committed to expanding upon our fiduciary approach to include a humble and curious exploration of what it means to practice an active and engaged love on a personal and systemic level. This commitment means that I will need to gain an even deeper understanding of the real impact of economic decisions on individuals, families and communities. We are all connected.

While not every investor has a faith background, I think most sustainable investors hope that their work will make the world a better place. While I cannot point to a study that proves practicing engaged love leads to better long-term financial returns, I know my recent experience has given me more clarity, compassion and motivation to use my work at Wespath to try to bring about this better future—a motivation and hope that, even in the face of complex global problems, it still matters if we help even one family not feel the heartbreak of a life cut short.

¹ The Society of Actuaries estimates that the opioid crisis carried an economic burden of at least $631 billion from 2015 to 2018, primarily resulting from healthcare spending, criminal justice costs, lost productivity due to addiction and incarceration, and lost potential earnings due to premature deaths (https://www.soa.org/globalassets/assets/files/resources/research-report/2019/econ-impact-non-medical-opioid-use.pdf). Companies involved in opioid manufacturing also face significant business risks resulting from lawsuits, regulations and shifts in consumer behavior.