Benefits Managers Address United Methodist Investors Wary of SpaceX Stock Offering

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Finance and Administration

A United Methodist Insight Exclusive | June 18, 2026

United Methodist investors intrigued by the massive public offering of SpaceX stock – the largest in financial history – can rest assured their retirement funds administered by the denomination’s pension and benefits agency have limited exposure to SpaceX stock, say two of the agency’s top managers.

The initial public offering, or IPO, of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, known formally as Space Exploration Technologies Corp., raised $85.7 billion on June 12, the date of its appearance on the Nasdaq stock exchange. The sale transformed Mr. Musk into the world’s first trillionaire.

However, the stock trade carried controversial baggage of the kind that can unnerve investors, especially an article by Jay Kuo on The Big Picture website about retirement funds being forced to buy SpaceX stock. Caveats include SpaceX’s governance that essentially shuts out investors from holding Mr. Musk and his company accountable and from the effects of Nasdaq easing its rules to allow SpaceX to hold a public stock sale without three crucial safeguards that have shielded investors in the past. (See accompanying story for details).

A small investment for United Methodists

Executives at Wespath, the United Methodist agency that oversees pensions and health insurance for clergy and church personnel, explained that while SpaceX’s debut as a publicly traded company seems overwhelming, actual United Methodist investment through Wespath in Mr. Musk’s company is likely to be miniscule, at least initially. That’s because of the way the indexes typically weight the stocks, and because of Wespath’s instructions to its third-party asset managers, they say.

Frank Holsteen, managing director of Wespath’s investment management and with Wespath since 2012, provides risk management and strategic investment support, monitoring the agency’s fixed income, equity and alternative investments. He told United Methodist Insight that Wespath doesn’t choose stocks directly; it hires professional fund managers with expertise to monitor financial markets and choose stocks according to instructions the agency gives them.

“Indexes like Nasdaq, the Russell 1000 and Standard & Poor’s look at stock value of a company to determine its weight in an index,” Mr. Holsteen said. “For example, companies like Nvidia or Apple have trillions of dollars of stock available, so they might make up 6 to 7 percent of an index. SpaceX is expected to initially represent a small proportion of the Russell 1000 index, possibly as little as one-tenth of one percent.

“So the actual amount of SpaceX stock that might be held in our funds is initially very small, depending on the size of the investment our managers make on our behalf.”

Mr. Holsteen explained that SpaceX’s weight in the Russell 1000 likely will increase in the future due to changes in stock prices, and when SpaceX insiders are allowed to sell their restricted shares into the market. Wespath will continue to closely monitor developments.

Overall, Wespath “values diversification as a tool for managing risk that we believe leads to better risk-adjusted performance long-term,” Mr. Holsteen said.

Jake Barnett, Wespath’s managing director of sustainable investment strategies, likened its investment process to a set of Russian nesting dolls.

“First you have the broad portfolio (Wespath fund) encompassing everything, but each stock purchase within the fund is like a smaller doll,” he said. “Ultimately, like the smallest doll, an investment like SpaceX is going to be a very small proportion of the overall strategy.”

“Markets change quickly, and news like SpaceX makes investors anxious,” Mr. Barnett said. “We are working diligently to be stewards of their funds. In addition to the technical expertise of our staff and asset managers, we approach our work with a sense of being a steward.”

Mr. Barnett and Mr. Holsteen said that most United Methodists opt for Wespath’s LifeStage Investment Management service, which carefully adjusts retirement investments according to personal factors such as age, risk tolerance and other considerations. Overtime, this program automatically adjusts to keep individuals’ investments aligned with their long-term goals.  

Mr. Holsteen said the SpaceX IPO highlights important principles of Wespath’ investment strategy, which prioritizes lessening the risk of any single market transaction, aiming for long-term financial gains.

“It’s always important to evaluate how to control and mitigate risk,” Mr. Holsteen said. “The most important tool is diversification, being purposeful about how you blend investments.”

Wespath raised issues with Musk

Wespath raised concerns with Mr. Musk and SpaceX directors June 9 about its governance structure described in the IPO’s documents. The agency joined 16 other members of the Council of Institutional Investors in a letter objecting to SpaceX’s governance structure.

SpaceX upends the traditional “one share one vote” investment principle by creating two classes of stock. Class A stocks grant holders one vote per share, but Class B stockholders get 10 votes per share. Mr. Musk and other selected investors hold Class B stock.

“The result is that purchasers of Class A common stock in this offering would have little or no voice in the governance of the Company, even as their economic stake grows over time,” said the council’s letter, which Mr. Barnett signed on behalf of Wespath.

The Council of Institutional Investors also noted that SpaceX’s governance structure “contravenes” several specific policies regarding limits on shareholder control, such as requiring any shareholders seeking to sue the company to hold a minimum of 3 percent of the company’s stock. This requirement would deprive most institutional investors of legal rights because they couldn’t raise enough money to reach the 3 percent ownership threshold, the council said.

In other words, investors may own SpaceX stock, but Mr. Musk controls it. A columnist for Bloomberg, leadership professor Gautam Mukunda at the Yale School of Management, wrote that Mr. Musk’s title at SpaceX might as well be “God Emperor.” He added that in this age of “unaccountability,” Mr. Musk is not the only CEO dismantling traditional guardrails of corporate governance.

Despite objections from Wespath and its institutional investment colleagues, the SpaceX IPO went forward with its contested corporate structure intact.

In addition to monitoring financial risk, Wespath uses its holdings to demonstrate The United Methodist Church’s commitment to social justice and human development. However, individual investors currently don’t have the option to reject specific stocks such as SpaceX on social justice grounds; they must elect a fund of blended investments chosen by Wespath’s third-party managers.

“We want to acknowledge that there are areas for improvement,” said Mr. Barnett. “We’re not unengaged with the overall portfolio; we use our voice to seek to protect participants’ interests.”

Mr. Holsteen and Mr. Barnett stressed that SpaceX’s stock, as with other investments, gets evaluated by Wespath’s guiding principle of financial stewardship. A mural in the lobby of Wespath’s headquarters in Glenview, Ill., proclaims the 1760 counsel of Methodism’s founder John Wesley:

“When the Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being – and placed you in this world, He placed you here, not as a proprietor, but as a steward…”

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011 as a media platform to amplify news and views for, by and about marginalized and under-served United Methodists.