Employee-owned Baird announced today that Mary Ellen Stanek, CFA, President of Baird Funds and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Baird Advisors received Morningstar’s Outstanding Portfolio Manager Award. The award is one of the 2022 U.S. Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence.

The Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence recognize portfolio managers and asset-management firms that demonstrate excellent investment skill, the courage to differ from the consensus to benefit investors, and an alignment of interests with the strategies’ investors. Morningstar’s manager research analysts conduct in-depth qualitative analyses in order to select nominees and, subsequently, vote to determine the award winner. Stanek is being recognized as the Co-Chief Investment Officer of the team that manages Baird Ultra Short Bond Fund (BUBIX), Baird Short-Term Bond Fund (BSBIX), Baird Intermediate Bond Fund (BIMIX), Baird Aggregate Bond Fund (BAGIX) and Baird Core Plus Bond Fund(BCOIX). Morningstar’s methodology is available here. In its nomination of Stanek Morningstar wrote:

“Stanek has an investors-first mentality. Long before it was the industry norm, Stanek and her team launched strategies with some of the lowest fees available among actively managed peers; the managers don't have to take on more risk to clear their price hurdles and beat their respective benchmarks. Stanek and her team also produce comprehensive educational content on fixed-income markets for investors and own large stakes in the funds they run.”

“This recognition is extraordinarily well deserved,” said Steve Booth, Baird’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Mary Ellen and her outstanding team have a proven approach that has helped their clients navigate all types of markets. The team’s dedication to clients and consistency for more than 20 years at Baird and many years before that have been key to their long-term success.”

“I’m humbled to be recognized for a career focused on stewarding our clients’ assets and controlling risk,” said Mary Ellen Stanek. “I remain grateful for our team and how they continually support our investors with our all-weather approach. We’re proud to do this work and serve our investors year after year.”

The winners were announced on CNBC and will be recognized in May at the Morningstar Investment Conference.

About Baird Funds

Baird Funds is a no-load mutual fund family with more than $96 billion in assets as of March 31, 2022. The Baird Funds offer proven track records and a variety of portfolios spanning fixed income and equity asset classes, feature competitive fees and are managed with a careful focus on risk control. For more information, visit www.bairdfunds.com.

About Baird

Putting clients first since 1919, Baird is an employee-owned, international wealth management, asset management, investment banking/capital markets, and private equity firm with offices in the United States, Europe and Asia. Baird has approximately 4,600 associates serving the needs of individual, corporate, institutional and municipal clients and more than $415 billion in client assets as of Dec. 31, 2021. Committed to being a great workplace, Baird ranked No. 27 on the 2022 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For® list – its 19^th consecutive year on the list. Baird is the marketing name of Baird Financial Group. Baird’s principal operating subsidiaries are Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated and Baird Trust Company in the United States and Robert W. Baird Group Ltd. in Europe. Baird also has an operating subsidiary in Asia supporting Baird’s investment banking and private equity operations. For more information, please visit Baird’s website at www.rwbaird.com.

Please click here for current performance, ratings and maximum sales charge, load or fees that may be associated with Baird Funds.

Performance data represents past performance and does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of the investment will fluctuate so that shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance data may be lower or higher than the data quoted. For performance data to the most recent month end, contact Baird directly at 866-442-2473 or www.bairdassetmanagement.com/baird-funds

Some of the potential risks associated with fixed income investments include call risk, reinvestment risk, interest rate risk, credit risk, default risk, liquidity risk and inflation risk. Additionally, it is important that an investor is familiar with the inverse relationship between a bond’s price and its yield. Bond prices will fall as interest rates rise and vice versa.

Morningstar's Manager Research Group consists of various wholly owned subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. including, but not limited to, Morningstar Research Services LLC. Morningstar's Manager Research Group produces various ratings and assessments including the Morningstar Analyst Rating and the Morningstar Quantitative Rating. The Morningstar Analyst Rating is derived from a qualitative assessment process performed by a manager research analyst, whereas the Morningstar Quantitative Rating uses a machine-learning model based on the decision-making processes of Morningstar's analysts, their past ratings decisions, and the data used to support those decisions. In both cases, the ratings are forward-looking assessments and include assumptions of future events, which may or may not occur or may differ significantly from what was assumed. The Morningstar Analyst Ratings and Morningstar Quantitative Ratings are statements of opinions, subject to change, are not to be considered as guarantees, and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. This press release is for informational purposes only; references to securities should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the securities.

Morningstar Awards 2022 (c). Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Nomination awarded to Mary Ellen Stanek and Baird for the 2022 U.S. Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence.

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