skip to main content
Plan Sponsor or Plan Participant? Visit Wespath.org

Insights and Commentary from Wespath

The white papers and thought leadership articles published prior to 2019 were created under the Wespath Investment Management brand name. Upon the January 2019 launch of Wespath Institutional Investments, the Wespath Investment Management brand name was discontinued.

Small and Mid-Cap Stock white paper cover image

The Small and Mid-Cap Stock Advantage

Company size, measured by market value or market capitalization (market cap), is an important factor when analyzing and selecting stocks. But getting a handle on small-cap, mid-cap and large-cap strategies can be daunting for investors. In our latest paper, Mark Warren – Manager, Public Equities – breaks down these concepts and explains why the Wespath equity funds maintain a “bias” to small and mid-sized companies.

Posted June 10, 2020

Read the white paper

Private Equity White Paper cover image

Wespath’s Private Equity Strategy: The Evolving Approach

Wespath funds have held private equity investments since 2003, but the landscape has evolved since then. This paper—authored by Brian Boyer, Director of Private Markets, who writes with over 30 years of experience in investment management—describes the various strategies Wespath has researched and implemented in its private equity program over the years. He also examines emerging industry trends and explains how Wespath’s private equity strategy continues to deliver value to pension participants and institutional investors.

Posted March 3, 2020

Read the white paper

  • Wespath ‘Transition Ready’ Strategy—Investing for a Low-Carbon Future 

    Wespath believes that a global transition to a low-carbon economy is underway, creating winners and losers across companies, industries and countries and impacting investment returns. This belief inspired Wespath to partner with BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, to develop a new way of investing. In this interview, Juan Lois, Manager, Impact Investments, and Kaitlin Bergan, Vice President of BlackRock’s Institutional Products Group, discuss the development, philosophy and custom framework behind the new "Transition Ready" strategy. (Posted June 6, 2019)
    Read the Report

  • Investing for Endowments and Foundations 

    Wespath understands that prudent investing for endowments and foundations is different from prudent investing for retirement plans. Endowments and foundations exist in perpetuity and must address the challenge of finding the correct balance of risk and rewards in the management of their assets to support their ability to fulfill their mission for generations into the future. This paper by Chief Investment Officer Dave Zellner describes Wespath's flexibility to execute a strategy customized to meet the unique needs of each client. (Posted January 9, 2018)
    Read the Report

  • ESG Integration in External Asset Manager Selection

    Wespath believes assessing an external asset manager’s ESG competencies during the selection process is an important element of enhancing long-term returns and mitigating investment risks. In this report, Nick Abel, Sustainable Investment Specialist, and Juan Lois, Research Analyst, Sustainable Investment Strategies, explain how Wespath aims to uncover managers’ ESG strengths throughout this process. (Posted December 13, 2017)
    Read the Report

  • The Benefits of International Investing

    There is an ongoing global shift in financial markets, with a greater share of global investment opportunity and economic growth coming from outside the United States. This shift is influencing long-term investors who may benefit from increased returns and from reduced portfolio risk by investing in international markets. Mark Warren, Manager, Public Equities, explains. (Posted November 17, 2017)
    Read the Report

  • ESG Integration—Evaluating and Monitoring External Asset Manager Performance

    This report outlines Wespath's ESG Appraisal, the internal process we developed to benchmark how our external asset managers integrate environmental, social and governance (ESG) factors into investment decision-making. It helps us understand how ESG integration filters down from our managers’ organizational policies to everyday investment decision-making, as we believe it positively affects long-term performance. (Posted March 27, 2017)
    Read the Report

  • Did Your Asset Manager Choose an Appropriate Benchmark?

    Choosing an appropriate benchmark is essential for providing investors a baseline for evaluating an asset manager’s success over the long-term. An inappropriate benchmark can make a skilled manager look ineffective or an underperforming manager look capable. However, choosing the right benchmark is subjective and not always straight-forward—it requires careful consideration between the asset owner and investment manager. (Posted January 11, 2017)
    Read the Report

  •  Case Study: Shareholder Engagement—Identifying Human Rights Risks

    This paper contains practical learnings and engagement questions to five key challenges faced by the extractives sector when implementing the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (Guiding Principles). Wespath staff visited Newmont Mining Corporation’s (Newmont) mines in Peru to learn first-hand how one of the world’s largest gold producers integrates human rights concerns. Newmont’s experience in Peru demonstrates that a company can face real conflict despite its best efforts to faithfully implement the Guiding Principles. The insights gained from this field visit can help investors better understand how global companies in multiple sectors are addressing human rights-related issues. (Posted August 1, 2016)
    Read the Report

  • Wespath’s Hedge Fund Strategy—The Path Not Followed

    While a wide variety of institutional investors embrace hedge fund investing as an integral and "sophisticated" element of their overall program, Wespath has concluded that the potential risk-adjusted return opportunities do not justify the requisite resources and costs required for prudently engaging in this popular form of investing. In the following White Paper, Dave Zellner, Wespath's Chief Investment Officer, explains our rationale for declining to establish a significant investment of the assets entrusted to us by our stakeholders in hedge funds. (Posted June 7, 2013)
    Read the Report

Investor Resources