May 5, 2014
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GuideStone’s award-winning mutual funds now available for church members
By Roy Hayhurst
DALLAS — Individuals and institutions in our Southern Baptist and evangelical family interested in awardwinning, values-driven investments can now invest with GuideStone Funds. The nation’s largest Christianscreened mutual fund family, GuideStone Funds, opened in 2001. Until today, the Funds were limited to
pastors, missionaries and employees of Southern Baptist and evangelical churches and ministries, as well as
their immediate family members. This expansion is the next important step in supporting GuideStone’s longterm growth and fulfilling its mission.
“So often, 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,” said Rodric E. Cummins, senior vice president and
chief investment officer of GuideStone Capital Management. “We believe that the many industry recognitions
GuideStone Funds has received help give evidence that investors don’t have to compromise their values to
obtain industry-leading performance.”
GuideStone’s commitment to excellence and performance, coupled with a values-driven approach, has fueled
award-winning success. Five of GuideStone’s 11 Select Funds currently have 4 or 5 star Morningstar ratings,
as of March 31, 2014. In 2012, Lipper awarded GuideStone Funds its Best Overall Small Fund Group in the
U.S. — the first Christian-screened fund family of its kind to receive this award. The 2012 award was for
performance over the three-year period ending November 30, 2011, and ranked GuideStone No. 1 out of 182
eligible fund families with up to $40 billion in assets. In 2013, our MyDestination 2025 Fund was ranked No. 1
out of 92 similar funds for its performance over the three-year period ending November 30, 2012. Most
recently, Lipper honored GuideStone’s Extended-Duration Bond Fund as the Best Fund Over 3 Years and the
Best Fund Over 5 Years in the Corporate Debt A-Rated Funds category. In each category, which ended
November 30, 2013, the Extended-Duration Bond Fund beat out more than 50 eligible funds.
Anchored in an approach that unites investment professionals and a proven research process with access to
industry-recognized investment management firms, GuideStone Funds provides the nation’s largest family of
Christian-screened mutual funds and diversified investment opportunities across all asset classes.
“We believe that the time is right to make these funds available to a wider Christian audience,” said Ron
Dugan, chief strategic investment officer for GuideStone. “Having successfully weathered financial storms
after September 2001, as well as the economic downturn of 2008-2009, we believe our funds are battle-tested
and offer a good approach for values-based investors who want to invest in accordance with their values.
“Our commitment to our investors, whether they are the pastors we were founded to serve over nine decades
ago, church members or financial advisors, is the same: to help them achieve their long-term goals,” Dugan
said. “On each desk at GuideStone is a little sign that reminds us of our guiding vision as we seek to be a
lifelong partner in enhancing the financial security of our participants. We will not waiver from that as we seek
to work each day with integrity and skill on behalf of our investors.”
GuideStone President O.S. Hawkins echoed those sentiments.
“Each expansion GuideStone has undertaken helps provide additional economies of scale, allowing us to
continue to provide quality services at competitive prices to our pastors and all participants,” Hawkins said.
“Our core commitment — part of the very fabric of GuideStone Financial Resources — is to those pastors at
the crossroads. Every time we consider an opportunity to grow, our first and foremost question remains
whether we are able to do so while honoring the Lord in being those pastors’ lifelong partner in enhancing
their financial security. We are convinced this step enhances our ability to partner with those participants.”
GuideStone Funds is a controlled-affiliate of GuideStone Financial Resources, a 96-year-old entity of the
Southern Baptist Convention. While originally founded as a relief organization, GuideStone has since
transitioned into providing employer-sponsored retirement plans, life and health products and property and
casualty coverage. The mutual fund family was launched in 2001 as a way to provide more investment
opportunities for pastors, churches and other ministries. GuideStone launched the first Christian-based targetdate fund lineup in 2006.
For more information about GuideStone Funds or to obtain a prospectus with important information on the
funds, please call 1-888-GS-FUNDS (1-888-473-8637) or visit www.GuideStoneFunds.com.
-30You should carefully consider the investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses of the GuideStone Funds
before investing. A prospectus with this and other information about the Funds may be obtained by calling 1888-GS-FUNDS (1-888-473-8637) or downloading one at www.GuideStoneFunds.com. It should be read
carefully before investing.
GuideStone Funds and retail investment products are made available through GuideStone Financial Services,
member FINRA.
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 March 31, 2014, GuideStone Funds
Medium-Duration Bond Fund – GS4 had 4 stars out of 942 funds in the Intermediate-Term Bond category,
GuideStone Funds Extended-Duration Bond Fund – GS4 had 5 stars out of 127 funds in the Corporate Bond
category, GuideStone Funds Equity Index Fund – GS4 had 4 stars out of 1361 in the Large Blend category,
GuideStone Funds Value Equity Fund – GS4 had 4 stars out of 1,068 funds in the Large Value category, and
GuideStone Funds Global Bond Fund – GS4 had 4 stars out of 270 funds in the World Bond category.
About the 2012 Best Overall Small Company Award: Fund groups with at least three equity, three bond and
three mixed-asset classes are eligible for a group award. The lowest average decile rank of the three years’
Consistent Return measure of the eligible funds per asset class and group will determine the award winner over
the three-year period ended November 30, 2011. In cases of identical results, the lower average percentile rank
will determine the winner. 182 firms were eligible for this award.
About the 2013 Mixed-Asset Target 2025 Funds Award (3 year): Classification averages are calculated with
all eligible share classes for each eligible classification. The calculation periods extend over 36, 60 and 120
months. The highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (Effective Return) value within each eligible
classification determines the fund classification winner over three, five or ten years. The GuideStone
MyDestination Fund 2025 – GS4 won for the three-year period ended November 30, 2012. 92 funds were
eligible for this award.
About the 2014 Corporate Debt A-Rated Funds Award (3 year and 5 year): Classification averages are
calculated with all eligible share classes for each eligible classification. The calculation periods extend over 36,
60 and 120 months. The highest Lipper Leader for Consistent Return (Effective Return) value within each
eligible classification determines the fund classification winner over three, five or ten years. The GuideStone
Extended Duration Fund – GS2 won for the three-year and five-year periods ended November 30, 2013. 57
funds were eligible for the three-year award and 51 funds were eligible for the five-year award.
Small company stocks are generally riskier than large company stocks due to greater volatility and less
liquidity.
Bond funds are subject to credit risk and interest rate risk. Interest rate risk means, 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 that on short duration holdings.
The MyDestination Funds® (“Funds”) attempt to achieve their objectives by investing in the GuideStone Select
Funds and other investments. The Funds are managed to a retirement date (“target date”) by adjusting the
percentage of fixed income securities and equity securities to become more conservative each year until
reaching the retirement year and then approximately 15 years thereafter. The target date in the name of the
Funds is the approximate date when an investor plans to start withdrawing money. By investing in the Funds,
you will also incur the expenses and risks of the underlying Select Funds and other investments. The principal
risks of the Funds will change depending on the asset mix of the Select Funds in which they invest. You may
directly invest in the Select Funds and other investments, except the Flexible Income Fund and Global Natural
Resources Equity Fund. The Funds’ value will go up and down in response to changes in the share prices of
the investments that they own. The amount invested in the Fund is not guaranteed to increase, is not
guaranteed against loss, nor is the amount of the original investment guaranteed at the target date. It is possible
to lose money by investing in the Funds.
_______________________
Roy Hayhurst is department head of denominational and public relations services at GuideStone Financial
Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Media Contact — Tim Head, Executive Officer for Denominational and Public Relations Services,
GuideStone Financial Resources, SBC. Contact Mr. Head via email, Tim.Head@GuideStone.org, or
telephone at (214) 720-4706.