Overview


The Baird Small/Mid Cap Growth Fund is a high conviction portfolio of 60-70 stocks, with a strong emphasis on fundamental, bottom-up research to discover unique, secular growth stories that we believe can drive above average sales and earnings growth. The team strongly believes in having a true “smid” portfolio invested in companies primarily between $500 million and $15 billion in market cap. The primary investment goal is to provide superior-to-market returns over a 3-5 year time horizon versus the Russell 2500 Growth Index. The team does this by finding companies for inclusion in the portfolio that have stronger growth, more favorable industry dynamics and competitive positioning, and the opportunity to expand profit margins.

Performance

ALL DATA AS OF 3/31/2024
1 Month 3 Month YTD 1 Year 3 Years 5 Years Since Inception
Small/Mid Cap Growth Fund 1.49 1.88 1.88 3.49 -1.84 10.28 10.62
Russell 2500 Growth Index 2.70 8.51 8.51 21.12 -0.81 9.39 10.21
  • Disclosure

    Performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investment return and principal value of an investment in the fund will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. The funds' current performance may be lower or higher than the performance data quoted.

    Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of each fund carefully before investing. This and other information is found in the prospectus and summary prospectus. For a prospectus or summary prospectus, contact Baird directly at 866-442-2473. Please read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.

    The Fund focuses on growth-style stocks and therefore the performance of the Fund will typically be more volatile than the performance of funds that focus on types of stocks that have a broader investment style. The Fund may invest up to 15% of its total assets in U.S. dollar-denominated foreign securities and ADRs. Foreign investments involve additional risks such as currency rate fluctuations, political and economic instability, and different and sometimes less strict financial reporting standards and regulation. The Fund invests a substantial portion of its assets in the stocks of small- and mid-capitalization companies. Small- and mid-capitalization companies often are more volatile and face greater risks than larger, more established companies.

    The Net Expense Ratio is the Gross Expense Ratio minus any reimbursement from the advisor. The advisor has contractually agreed to waive its fees and/or reimburse expenses at least through April 30, 2024, to the extent necessary to ensure that the total operating expenses do not exceed 1.10% of the Investor Class's average daily net assets and 0.85% of the Institutional Class's average daily net assets. Investor class expense ratios include a 0.25% 12b-1 fee.

    The Russell 2500 Growth Index measures the performance of those Russell 2500 companies with above average price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. The stocks are also members of the Russell 1000 Growth Index. Indices are unmanaged and are not available for direct investment.

    Time periods greater than one year are annualized.

Morningstar Ratings

MORNINGSTAR RATINGS BASED ON RISK ADJUSTED RETURNS AS OF 3/31/2024
Category Overall 3 Year 5 Year
Small/Mid Cap Growth Fund Mid-Cap Growth
(520 funds)
(520 funds)
(489 funds)
  • Disclosure

    The Morningstar Rating™ for funds, or "star rating", is calculated for managed products with at least a three-year history. Exchange-traded funds and open-ended mutual funds are considered a single population for comparative purposes. It is calculated based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a managed product's monthly excess performance, placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The Morningstar Rating does not include any adjustment for sales loads. The top 10% of products in each product category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars, and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a managed product is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its 3-, 5-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. While the 10-year overall star rating formula seems to give the most weight to the 10-year period, the most recent 3-year period actually has the greatest impact because it is included in all three rating periods.

    © 2024 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

Portfolio Characteristics

ALL DATA AS OF 3/31/2024
Security % of Fund
PTC Inc. 3.37%
BWX Technologies, Inc. 3.22%
Kadant Inc. 3.17%
RBC Bearings Incorporated 2.73%
Watsco, Inc. 2.58%
Trex Company, Inc. 2.56%
IDEX Corporation 2.49%
Pool Corporation 2.45%
Descartes Systems Group Inc. 2.41%
Matador Resources Company 2.37%
  • Disclosure

    Profit Margin is a ratio of profitability calculated as net income divided by revenues, or net profits divided by sales. Debt/Capital Ratio is a measurement of a company’s financial leverage. Debt/Capital Ratio does not include outliers defined as companies with Debt/Capital greater than 500%. Revenue Growth is the total of operating revenues less various adjustments to gross sales. Revenue Growth does not include outliers defined as companies with Revenue Growth less than -50% and greater than 300%. P/E Ratio is a valuation of a company’s current share price compared to its expected per-share earnings. The holdings, characteristics and statistical measures used in this fact sheet are not a forecast of the fund’s future performance and subject to change. Specific securities identified do not represent all the securities purchased, sold or held and a reader should not assume these securities were or will be profitable.