PCUSA's Caterpillar stock value has risen by $711,207 By John H. Adams The Layman Online Thursday, December 23, 2004 The value of the denomination's investment in Caterpillar has increased by 25 percent – $711,207 – since the 216th General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted in July to divest its funds in multinational corporations doing business with Israel. Caterpillar has been singled out as a target because Israel has bought its equipment to clear a path for the wall that protects Israeli men, women and children from suicide bombers. Caterpillar's equipment has also been used to clean up Israeli areas after the attacks, which have decreased by more than 40 percent, according to government officials. The Presbyterian Foundation owns 36,900 shares of Caterpillar stock and the Board of Pension owns 200. The stock was valued at $77.98 per share when the General Assembly voted for divestment. At the close of trading Wednesday, the stock was valued at $97.15 a share. The foundation's investments support the mission program of the church. Partly because of an overall decline on the stock market, the amount of money available for mission has dropped sharply – from a budget of $144 million in 2001 to $114 million in 2004. Leaders of the foundation and the Board of Pensions, which handles the health and pension benefits of Presbyterian ministers, have expressed their concern about any General Assembly resolution that might require them to pull funds out of growth stocks. They have argued that they have a fiduciary responsibility to the church (mission) and ministers (Board of Pensions) that overrides political and social investment policies. A Presbyterian agency, the Mission Responsibility Through Investment Committee, has begun mapping a plan to begin "selective phased divestment in multinational corporations doing business with Israel," as the General Assembly mandated. |
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