Morningstar® Thrilling 31 Funds Includes Baird Bond Funds
Four of Baird’s bond funds have again been named to the Morningstar® Thrilling 31 list. Returning to the list are the Baird Aggregate Bond Fund (BAGIX), Baird Short-Term Bond Fund (BSBIX), and Baird Ultra Short Bond Fund (BUBIX)—all three are Morningstar Analyst Rating™ Gold Rated. Also on the list is the Morningstar Analyst Rating™ Silver Rated Baird Core Plus Bond Fund (BCOIX). (Morningstar Analyst Rating report date: 2/9/2022)
Morningstar narrows a universe of 15,000 fund share classes to a short list ranging between 25 and 50 funds using the following criteria:
- Expense ratio in the category’s cheapest quintile.
- Manager investment of more than $1 million in the fund.
- Morningstar Risk rating below the High level.
- Morningstar Analyst Rating of Bronze or higher.
- Parent rating better than average/neutral.
- Returns above the fund’s benchmark over the manager’s tenure for a minimum of five years.
- Must be a share class accessible to individual investors with a minimum investment no greater than $50,000.
- No funds of funds.
“We’re honored to have four bond funds on this highly selective list of just 31mutual funds,” said Mary Ellen Stanek, CFA, Managing Director, Chief Investment Officer of Baird Advisors and President of Baird Funds. “Morningstar’s strict criteria, including low costs and strong analyst and parent ratings align well with our funds. Our investors have benefited from the consistent investment approach and strong results that have helped us achieve our place on this prestigious list.”
Performance data represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of the investment will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance data may be lower or higher than the data quoted. To read the fund’s prospectus or to obtain the fund’s performance to the most recent month end, SEC 30-day yield information, any sales charges, maximum sales charges, loads, fees, total annual operating expense ratio, gross of any fee waivers or expense reimbursements as stated in the fee table contact Baird directly at 866-442-2473 or visit the fund’s webpage here for BCOIX, and here for BAGIX, and here for BSBIX and here for BUBIX. Investment minimums for these institutional class funds is $10,000.
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 or contact your Financial Advisor.
The Morningstar Analyst Rating™ is not a credit or risk rating. It is a subjective evaluation performed by Morningstar’s manager research group, which consists of various Morningstar, Inc. subsidiaries (“Manager Research Group”). In the United States, that subsidiary is Morningstar Research Services LLC, which is registered with and governed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The Manager Research Group evaluates funds based on five key pillars, which are process, performance, people, parent, and price. The Manager Research Group uses this five-pillar evaluation to determine how they believe funds are likely to perform relative to a benchmark over the long term on a risk adjusted basis. They consider quantitative and qualitative factors in their research. For actively managed strategies, people and process each receive a 45% weighting in their analysis, while parent receives a 10% weighting. For passive strategies, process receives an 80% weighting, while people and parent each receive a 10% weighting. For both active and passive strategies, performance has no explicit weight as it is incorporated into the analysis of people and process; price at the share-class level (where applicable) is directly subtracted from an expected gross alpha estimate derived from the analysis of the other pillars. The impact of the weighted pillar scores for people, process and parent on the final Analyst Rating is further modified by a measure of the dispersion of historical alphas among relevant peers. For certain peer groups where standard benchmarking is not applicable, primarily peer groups of funds using alternative investment strategies, the modification by alpha dispersion is not used.
The Analyst Rating scale is Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative. For active funds, a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Gold, Silver, or Bronze reflects the Manager Research Group’s expectation that an active fund will be able to deliver positive alpha net of fees relative to the standard benchmark index assigned to the Morningstar category. The level of the rating relates to the level of expected positive net alpha relative to Morningstar category peers for active funds. For passive funds, a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Gold, Silver, or Bronze reflects the Manager Research Group’s expectation that a fund will be able to deliver a higher alpha net of fees than the lesser of the relevant Morningstar category median or 0. The level of the rating relates to the level of expected net alpha relative to Morningstar category peers for passive funds.
For certain peer groups where standard benchmarking is not applicable, primarily peer groups of funds using alternative investment strategies, a Morningstar Analyst Rating of Gold, Silver, or Bronze reflects the Manager Research Group’s expectation that a fund will deliver a weighted pillar score above a predetermined threshold within its peer group. Analyst Ratings ultimately reflect the Manager Research Group’s overall assessment, are overseen by an Analyst Rating Committee, and are continuously monitored and reevaluated at least every 14 months.
For more detailed information about Morningstar’s Analyst Rating, including its methodology, please go to https://shareholders.morningstar.com/investor-relations/governance/Compliance--Disclosure/default.aspx.
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