Newsline: FedEx given 'no fly zone' by Brethren Benefit Trust
From CoBNews <CoBNews@brethren.org>Date Fri, 3 Jun 2011 15:06:31 -0500
Newsline: Church of the Brethren News Service, News Director Cheryl Brumbaugh-Cayford, 800-323-8039 ext. 260, cobnews@brethren.org FedEx given 'no fly zone' by Brethren Benefit Trust (June 3, 2011) Elgin, IL -- At its spring meeting, the Brethren Benefit Trust (BBT) Board of Directors addressed BBT's relationships with businesses that have major contracts with the US Department of Defense. Other items dealt with at the meeting April 30-May 1 included an assistance plan for Brethren Pension Plan annuitants, a change in how the fund that pays out pension annuities is invested, BBT's securities lending program, and compliance and data security issues. FedEx was given a "no-fly zone" by the board. Each year, companies that have business practices at odds with Church of the Brethren Annual Conference statements are screened from BBT's investment portfolio. This includes businesses that have major contracts with the US Department of Defense. Socially Responsible Investing (SRI) director Steve Mason presented two lists of Department of Defense contractors that in 2010 either earned 10 percent or more of their income from such contracts or were one of the top 25 publicly traded contracting firms. While many of the firms are not household names, the same cannot be said about FedEx. With the board's approval of the lists, BBT will avoid patronizing FedEx during the next year, as well as the 83 other businesses that appear on the lists. Review the lists at www.brethrenbenefittrust.org. The Church of the Brethren is a Christian denomination committed to continuing the work of Jesus peacefully and simply, and to living out its faith in community. The denomination is based in the Anabaptist and Pietist faith traditions and is one of the three Historic Peace Churches. It celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. It counts some 123,000 members across the United States and Puerto Rico, and has missions and sister churches in Nigeria, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and India. ># # # >For more information contact: >Steve Mason >Director of Brethren Foundation Inc. >Director of Socially Responsible Investing Initiatives >Brethren Benefit Trust >1505 Dundee Ave., Elgin, IL 60120 >847-622-3369 >smason_bbt@brethren.org