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EVANSTON, Ill. (UMNS)—Pension
leaders for The United Methodist
Church are assuring participants
that their accounts are well-funded
through a diverse portfolio of
investments, despite losses of $1.5
billion during 2008. Shaky U.S. and
world financial markets have hurt
investments of the United Methodist
Board of Pension and Health
Benefits, the largest faith-based
investor in the United States.
However, its leaders say the losses
are still less than the broad market
averages, and they are preaching a
"stay-the-course" philosophy to the
74,000 clergy and lay employees
participating in their plans.
"We
recognize and accept the cycles in
the market, and right now the
markets are down," said David
Zellner, chief investment officer
for the agency. "But we have a
disciplined investment process that
we’ve had in place for many years,
and we stick with that process. We
don’t waver, and we do not panic. We
take a very calm approach."
The
board’s investments closed at $14.9
billion on Sept. 17—down from $16.8
billion at the close of 2007—then
increased to $15.2 billion the
following day when the market shot
up 400 points. The rest of the
decrease in assets in 2008 is due to
payment of monthly benefits and
regular withdrawals. Zellner said
less than 1 percent of the board’s
portfolio was invested in stock
issued by troubled or fallen Wall
Street icons Lehman Brothers, Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns
and American International Group.
The board posted a Q&A report on its
site at
http://www.gbophb.org/sri_funds/marketsept08.asp.
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