GUIDESTONE FUNDS WINS ONE OF WORLD’S TOP FINANCIAL AWARDS
GuideStone: Lipper’s 2012 Choice for Best Overall Small Fund Group in the U.S.
DALLAS, March 9, 2012 – GuideStone Funds has become the first ever Christian-based, socially screened fund
family to win the prestigious Lipper trophy for Best Overall Small Fund Group in the U.S., ranking No. 1 out of
182 eligible companies (Lipper classifies fund families with up to $40 billion in assets under management in its
Small Fund Group.)
“The Lipper Award for Best Overall Small Fund Group recognizes a standard of excellence that we pursue every
day as we seek to honor the Lord and enable our faithful participants to invest according to their Biblical
principles,” said O.S. Hawkins, President and Chief Executive Officer of GuideStone Financial Resources, which
received the honor at the annual Lipper Award dinner sponsored by The Wall Street Journal, Thomson Reuters and
Investment News, Thursday night, March 8, in New York City. The firm was honored for its consistently strong riskadjusted investment performance across broad asset classes.
“People often think that they have to compromise Biblical integrity for investment performance,” said Roddy
Cummins, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer of GuideStone Funds. “We are dispelling that myth, which
is evidenced by the Lipper trophy,” added Cummins, who was quick to first thank the Lord for His favor, and then
recognize the daily collaborative efforts of the 450 employees at GuideStone, as well as the team of outside subadvisors to the fund group.
GuideStone Funds has achieved its leading level of excellence through a sophisticated, proprietary managerof-managers investment strategy that leverages what GuideStone believes to be the best possible intellectual
capital worldwide. The 27 funds in the GuideStone Funds group are managed by more than 20 professionals
dedicated to GuideStone’s investment process and committed to GuideStone’s Biblically based, social screening
guidelines.
“Lipper is pleased to recognize GuideStone Funds as this year’s recipient for the Best Overall Small-Group Fund
award,” said Jeff Tjornehoj, Head of Americas Research with Lipper. “This is the first time that a Socially
Responsible Investing fund group has won the award. 2011 was a challenging year for the industry; GuideStone and
all our winners should be congratulated for their achievements.”
“The Lipper Award is a very meaningful accomplishment professionally for our team, but most importantly it brings
honor to the Lord and encouragement to our client base that is faithfully fulfilling their call to Christian ministry or
raising their family on Biblical values,” said Cummins. “It’s a joy to receive this award on behalf of the pastors,
church workers, missionaries and others who are invested in GuideStone Funds. While they are out there living
their lives and doing their work for God’s Kingdom, we strive to enhance their financial security by delivering the
highest quality investment program that reflects their Biblical values,” Cummins concluded.
-30Media Contact — Kristen Youmans, Director of Public Relations, GuideStone Financial Resources,
SBC. Contact Kristen at (972) 834-3455 or via email at Kristen.Youmans@GuideStone.org.
About the Best Company Lipper Award
About Lipper
Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company, provides independent insight on global collective investments
including mutual funds, retirement funds, hedge funds, fund fees and expenses to the asset management
and media communities. Lipper is the world's leading fund research and analysis organization, covering
over 231,000 share classes and over 122,000 funds in 61 registered for sale (RFS) universes. It provides
the free Lipper Leader ratings for mutual funds registered for sale in over 30 countries. Additional
information is available at www.lipperweb.com.
About the Best Overall-Small Fund Group Award
Fund firms must meet the following cumulative criteria in order to be considered for the award:
 Funds registered for sale in the respective country as of the end of the calendar year of the
respective evaluation year.
 At least 36 months of performance history as of the end of the calendar year of the respective
evaluation year.
 Lipper U.S. local classifications with at least three distinct portfolios based on the primary share
class definition, excluding residual classifications, institutional, private, closed-end, exchange
traded, insurance and linked funds.
 Asset classes: equity, bond, and mixed-asset.
Overall Group Award Criteria:
Small fund groups with at least three equity funds, three bond funds, and three mixed-asset funds are
eligible for the overall small group award. The overall group award is be given to the group with the
lowest average decile1 ranking of its respective asset class results based on the methodology described
above. In cases of identical results, the lower average percentile rank will determine the winner.
Assets-Under-Management Breakpoint Calculation
United States: In order to define the breakpoint between large and smaller companies, Lipper will
calculate the sum of all U.S. open-end, closed-end, and variable underlying funds with sales permission in
the United States. The assets-under management breakpoint is found at 85 percent accumulated weight
value.
Lipper Fund Awards designations do not constitute and are not intended to constitute investment advice
or an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any security of any entity in any jurisdiction. As a
result, investors should not make an investment decision on the basis of this information. Lipper Fund
Awards designations are for informational purposes only. Lipper is not responsible for the accuracy,
reliability or completeness of the information obtained from Lipper. In addition, Lipper will not be liable
for any loss or damage resulting from information obtained from Lipper or any of its affiliates. Past
performance is not necessarily a guide to future performance and investors should remember that past
performance is not a guarantee of future results.
Important Risk Information:
Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Investors are reminded that mutual fund investing
involves risk, including possible loss of principal.
You should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the funds before
investing. For a copy of the prospectus with this and other information about the funds, call 1-888-98GUIDE (1-888-984-8433) or visit www.GuideStoneFunds.org to view or download a prospectus. You
should read the prospectus carefully before investing.
Shares of GuideStone Funds are distributed by BNY Mellon Distributors Inc., a registered broker-dealer
and underwriter of the funds, 760 Moore Road, King of Prussia, PA 19406. GuideStone Capital
Management, a controlled affiliate of GuideStone Financial Resources, provides investment advisory
services for the Funds.
Fixed-income funds are subject to interest rate risk. Meaning, when interest rates rise, the value of the
existing bonds decrease and vice versa. Changes in interest rates have a bigger impact on long duration
holdings than on short duration holdings. There is a risk that value-oriented investments may not perform
as well as the rest of the U.S. stock market as a whole. Small and mid-sized company stocks are generally
riskier than large company stocks due to greater volatility and less liquidity. Foreign securities may
involve additional risks, such as political instability, reduced market liquidity and currency volatility. The
Real Estate Securities Fund invests substantial assets in real estate investment trusts (REITs) that involve
risks not associated with investing in stocks. Risks include declines in the value of real estate, general and
economic conditions, changes in the value of the underlying property and defaults by borrowers. The
value of assets in the real estate industry may go through cycles of relative underperformance and
outperformance in comparison to equity securities markets in general.