DALLAS (BP) — Launched just over five years ago, the MyDestination Funds family of date target funds continues to attract attention and recognition, including five-star Morningstar, Inc. ratings for four of its funds during the three-year period ending Feb. 29.
Today, nearly one out of every four dollars coming into retirement accounts at GuideStone Financial Resources is invested in a MyDestination fund.
In a simpler approach to retirement planning, investors using MyDestination Funds need only choose the fund that corresponds most closely to their retirement date. Each date target fund is a “fund of funds” with a diversified asset allocation that becomes more conservative as the participant moves to and through retirement.
While they are a simpler approach for investors, they are sophisticated funds that are recognized by third-party rating firms such as Morningstar, which has given its highest ratings to the MyDestination 2015, MyDestination 2025, MyDestination 2035 and MyDestination 2045 funds over the past three years based on each fund’s risk-adjusted return.
For overall performance (encompassing both the three-year and five-year periods ending Feb. 29, including the 2008-09 economic downturn), MyDestination 2015 and MyDestination 2025 funds received four-star Morningstar ratings while MyDestination 2035 and MyDestination 2045 funds received three-star ratings.
The Morningstar recognition comes on the heels of the GuideStone Funds family being ranked No. 1 out of 182 funds by another ranking firm, Lipper, which named GuideStone Funds as the 2012 Best Overall Small Fund Group in the U.S., one of the nation’s premier financial industry awards for fund families with up to $40 billion in assets.
John R. Jones, GuideStone Financial Resources chief operating officer and GuideStone Funds president, said MyDestination Funds can be a good choice for those wanting a simple approach, professional management with automatic asset rebalancing and a diversified portfolio that gradually adjusts as their retirement date approaches.
“When we first offered these funds in December 2006, we became the first and only registered mutual fund company offering Christian-based, socially screened date target funds,” Jones said. “Their popularity continues to grow, as people who want professional management with automatic asset rebalancing find out about these funds and move their money into them.”
In addition to the four MyDestination funds that garnered Morningstar recognition, GuideStone offers the MyDestination 2005 Fund and launched the MyDestination 2055 Fund in January. As with all GuideStone Funds, MyDestination Funds adhere to the same social screening guidelines adopted by the Southern Baptist entity.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in the United States and in major international markets, encompassing stocks, mutual funds, variable annuities, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds, separate accounts, hedge funds and 529 college savings plans. With operations in 16 countries, Morningstar currently provides data on more than 125,000 investment offerings worldwide.
For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a 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 percent of funds in each category receive five stars, the next 22.5 percent receive four stars, the next 35 percent receive three stars, the next 22.5 percent receive two stars and the bottom 10 percent receive one star.
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Roy Hayhurst is editorial services manager for GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. For more information about GuideStone Funds, go to www.guidestonefunds.org. For Baptist Press’ story on GuideStone Funds being ranked No. 1 out of 182 funds by Lipper, go to www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=37379.
