GuideStone Funds marked its five-year anniversary as a registered mutual fund family on Monday, Aug. 28, 2006, with a celebration and a challenge to remain competitive, flexible and committed. The investment funds are sponsored by GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
“I bring you greetings from the 41 trustees of GuideStone Financial Resources,” said Trustee Chairman Wm. Dale Patterson of Jackson, Miss. “As we look to the future, I would challenge the GuideStone employees to remain competitive in a competitive world, to stay flexible in the midst of a constantly changing world environment and to remain committed to serving as a lifelong partner to our participants.”
GuideStone Funds was launched on Aug. 27, 2001, with total assets of $7 billion and five years later the opening balance on Aug. 28, 2006, was $8.56 billion. GuideStone Funds offers 17 registered fund options in an array of investment classes with 13 different investment objectives and characteristics.
In addition to the growth of the total assets, GuideStone Funds is establishing a successful track record in the financial industry. The mutual funds receive monthly rankings from Lipper Inc., a Reuters Company that is a nationally recognized organization comparing the total return performance of mutual funds within a universe of funds having similar investment objectives.
- Lipper reported 9 of 13 GuideStone Funds in the GS4 share class exceeded the Lipper three-year average for total returns in their categories as of June 30, 2006.
- One of the funds, the Flexible Income Fund in the GS4 share class, was ranked first by Lipper out of 182 funds for the three-year period and number six out of 226 funds for the one-year period in Lipper Inc.’s Short Investment Grade Debt category based on total returns as of June 30, 2006. Remember, past rankings do not guarantee future rankings.
“We believe this event is a significant milestone for our fund company and demonstrates to the investment community and our investor base a track record with a great deal of accomplishment,” said Rodric E. Cummins, GuideStone Funds vice president and investment officer.
“The anniversary is a wonderful testimony to the success we have seen with GuideStone Funds and to the collective efforts of our staff and strategic partners to become the nation’s largest Christian-based, socially-screened registered mutual fund company,” said John R. Jones, GuideStone Funds president.
The anniversary also highlights an update of the fund performance pages to include five-year performance data, a user-friendly and interactive Web display and comprehensive information available to GuideStone participants.
Geoff Bobroff, a mutual fund industry consultant who helped in the preparation for the launch of GuideStone Funds in 2001, congratulated both GuideStone employees and sub-advisers for their diligence on reaching this significant milestone. GuideStone was one of the first church plans to make the conversion to a mutual fund complex.
“This accomplishment is significant because it took something that was really designed as a retirement program, and extended it to a much broader audience,” Bobroff said. “From a business standpoint the only way to do that was to convert it to a mutual fund. GuideStone stands as one of the largest affinity structures in the asset management field.”
“It has been an exciting and challenging five years,” said O.S. Hawkins, GuideStone Financial Resources president. “Though the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, accounting scandals and a recession during our early days challenged the entire market, I believe where we stand now is a testimony to the hard work and expertise of our GuideStone Capital Management team, which serves as the registered investment advisor for the funds, and our sub-advisers.”
When GuideStone Funds was launched in 2001 — as AB Funds Trust — eligible investors were limited to Southern Baptist ministers and employees of Southern Baptist agencies, institutions and churches. Today, that market has been expanded to include like-minded evangelical churches and ministries.
Cummins added that GuideStone’s history of innovation and excellence will continue through its future.
“GuideStone Funds provides our participants with world-class sub-advisers who understand our commitment to Christian-based, socially-screened investments,” he said. “Our approach to constructing investment options through the use of external investment management firms centers on identifying and implementing superior investment strategies executed by world-class investment talent. This approach to investment management maintains GuideStone Funds as a strong presence in the marketplace.”
For more information about the five-year anniversary, visit the GuideStone Funds Web site.
| You should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of GuideStone Funds before investing. For a copy of the prospectus with this and other information about the funds please download a prospectus (pdf) or call 1-888-98-GUIDE (1-888-984-8433). You should read the prospectus carefully before investing. |
| The Lipper Rankings are calculated by Lipper Inc. Rankings are based on total return performance: with capital gains and dividends reinvested, with annual operating expenses deducted, but without including front- or back-end sales charges. Rankings are relative to a peer group and do not necessarily mean the fund had high total returns. |
GuideStone Funds shares are distributed by PFPC Distributors, Inc., a registered broker-dealer and underwriter of the funds, 760 Moore Road., King of Prussia, PA 19406.