[1]DALLAS (BP) — Lipper Americas Research has honored GuideStone Financial Resources for the third consecutive year, recognizing the Southern Baptist entity’s Extended-Duration Bond Fund in two categories of excellence.
The fund received two Lipper Fund Awards for the Best Fund Over 3 Years and the Best Fund Over 5 Years in the Corporate Debt A-Rated Funds category, beating out more than 50 eligible funds for the three-year period ending Nov. 30, 2013.
GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins said the most recent accolade is evidence of the hard work and dedication of GuideStone’s staff and the sub-advisors it utilizes, with the resulting excellence benefitting those GuideStone serves.
“Our commitment to pastors, missionaries, church staff members and the scores of thousands of other ministry workers we serve is to provide them with financial products that reflect their values and will help them as they prepare for their future,” Hawkins said. “As we prepare this year to make our funds available to values-minded investors, this newest accolade is further testimony that our products and services can more than compete with the best-known names in the mutual fund industry.”
Lipper, one of the financial world’s leading fund research and analysis organizations, honored GuideStone at a March 20 awards ceremony in New York. In 2012, the entire GuideStone Funds family was ranked No. 1 out of 182 eligible fund families with up to $40 billion in assets, and was honored with Lipper’s Best Overall Small Fund Group in the U.S. over the three-year period ending Nov. 30, 2011. In 2013, the MyDestination 2025 Fund was ranked No. 1 out of 92 similar funds for its performance over the three-year period ending November 30, 2012.
Rodric E. Cummins, senior vice president and chief investment officer of GuideStone Capital Management, credited GuideStone’s professional management team for its efforts to fulfill the entity’s commitment to honor the Lord in all it does.
[2]“So many times, people wonder whether they have to choose the performance they hope to achieve for their investments or the values they strive to live out today,” Cummins said. “We believe that these recognitions help give evidence that they don’t have to compromise their values to obtain industry-leading performance.”
Barry Fennell, Lipper’s senior research analyst, praised the fund’s risk-adjusted returns.
“Lipper’s Fund Awards honor those funds that excelled at producing superior risk-adjusted returns for their investors,” Fennell said. “These two awards are certainly a positive reflection of the investment process that GuideStone has in place for the corporate debt asset class.”
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Roy Hayhurst is senior manager of editorial services at GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. Get Baptist Press headlines and breaking news on Twitter (@BaptistPress [3]), Facebook (Facebook.com/BaptistPress [4]) and in your email (baptistpress.com/SubscribeBP.asp [5]).