Morningstar.com Highlights Baird Short Term Bond Fund
Baird Short Term Bond Fund (BSBIX) is highlighted in a February 4 Morningstar.com article titled “4 Short Term Bond Funds That Proved Their Mettle In 2018.” In the piece, author Emory Zink notes that during a difficult environment, rising interest rates and increased pressure on the credit markets resulted in a relatively strong showing for short-term bond funds last year.
Investors should consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the fund carefully before investing. This and other information can be found in the prospectus or summary prospectus. A prospectus or summary prospectus may be obtained by visiting bairdfunds.com or calling 866-442-2473. Please read the prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before you invest or send money.
Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Analyst Rating is the summary expression of Morningstar's forward-looking analysis of a fund. Morningstar analysts assign the ratings on a five-tier scale with three positive ratings of Gold, Silver, and Bronze, a Neutral rating, and a Negative rating. The Analyst Rating is based on the analyst's conviction in the fund's ability to outperform its peer group and/or relevant benchmark on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term. If a fund receives a positive rating of Gold, Silver, or Bronze, it means Morningstar analysts think highly of a fund and expect it to outperform over a full market cycle of at least five years. The Analyst Rating is not a market call, and it is not meant to replace investors' due-diligence process. It cannot assess whether a fund is the right fit for a particular portfolio and risk tolerance. Morningstar evaluates funds based on five key pillars - Process, Performance, People, Parent, and Price. Analysts assign a rating of Positive, Neutral, or Negative to each pillar. Analyst Rating Scale - Gold: Best of breed fund that distinguishes itself across the five pillars and has garnered the analysts' highest level of conviction. Silver: Fund with advantages that outweigh the disadvantages across the five pillars and with sufficient level of analyst conviction to warrant a positive rating. Bronze: Fund with notable advantages across several, but perhaps not all of the five pillars. Analyst Ratings are reevaluated at least every 14 months.
For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each 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. Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages. As of December 31, 2018, the Baird Short Term Bond Fund was three stars overall out of 472 peers in the Short Term Bond Morningstar category. It was three stars out of 472 for three years, four stars out of 405 for five years and three stars it of 263 for ten years. The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year Morningstar Rating metrics.
All investments carry some level of risk. Some of the potential risks associated with fixed income investments include call risk, reinvestment risk, default risk and inflation risk. Additionally, it is important that an investor is familiar with the inverse relationship between a bond’s price and its yield. In a rising interest rate environment, the value of fixed-income securities generally decline and conversely, in a falling interest rate environment, the value of fixed income securities generally increase. High yield securities may be subject to heightened market, interest rate or credit risk and should not be purchased solely because of the stated yield. Ratings are measured on a scale that ranges from AAA or Aaa (highest) to D or C (lowest). Investment grade investments are those rated from highest down to BBB- or Baa3.
Morningstar is referring to the institutional class of the Baird Short Term Bond Fund. It has an investment minimum of $25,000. To obtain the fund’s prospectus and to access the fund’s performance current to the most recent month end, please visit its page at bairdfunds.com here.