The Strategy was a top performer in Morningstar’s Overall U.S. Separate Accounts Category over 1-year period, and Morningstar’s Technology Category over 1- and 5-year periods ending December 31, 2023

San Francisco – March 21, 2024 – Bailard’s Technology Strategy was among Pensions & Investments’ top-ten performing equity managers in Morningstar’s Overall U.S. Equity Separate Accounts Category for the 1-year period ending December 31, 2023. The Technology Strategy was also a top performer in the Morningstar Technology Category for separate accounts, for both the 1-year and 5-year periods ending December 31, 2023.

The rankings, compiled based on data from Morningstar, were unveiled earlier this month by Pensions & Investments, the global news source of money management and institutional investing in “Growth technology stocks vault to top equity strategies for 2023” and “Top performing managers by category: separate accounts, 4th Quarter 2023.” The top performers are selected based on 1-year and 5-year returns (calculated using the monthly returns input to Morningstar).

The Bailard Technology Strategy placed 8th in the Overall U.S. Equity Separate Accounts Category and 4th in the Technology Category, both for the 1-year period ending December 31, 2023, with a 69.16% gross of fee return and a 68.49% net of fee return. The Strategy placed 3rd in the Technology Category for the 5-year period ending December 31, 2023, with a 22.57% gross of fee return and a 22.08% net of fee return. (For the 10-year period, the Strategy returned 18.28% gross of fee and 17.45% net of fee.)

“Thematically, the Bailard Technology strategy portfolio benefited from our positioning around the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, which ignited secular growth opportunities for many technology companies that we believe are broad and sustainable,” Dave Harrison Smith, CFA, Bailard’s Executive Vice President of Domestic Equities and Head of Technology Investing, told Pensions & Investments. Dave continued, “Similarly, we benefited from an emphasis on the cybersecurity industry and a recovery in fundamentals in key segments including ad-tech and software.”

To learn more about our Technology Strategy and Bailard’s other equity strategies, please visit https://bailard.com/equity-strategies/.

Color headshot of Diana Dessonville.Interested in Learning More about the Technology Strategy, or Meeting with the Technology Strategy Team?

Diana L. Dessonville
Executive Vice President | Director, Institutional Client Services
diana.dessonville@bailard.com
(650) 571-5800

About Bailard, Inc.

Founded in 1969, Bailard is an independent asset and wealth management firm serving individuals, families, and institutions alike. Bailard has built a long‐term asset management track record across domestic and international equities, fixed income, and private real estate, as well as robust, in-house sustainable, responsible, and impact investing expertise. We combine these investment capabilities with financial, tax, and estate planning to provide comprehensive wealth management. Through it all, Bailard works with clients to align their financial goals with their values. Based in the San Francisco Bay Area with $5.8 billion in assets under management as of 12/31/2023, Bailard is a majority employee-owned and women-led firm, a Certified B Corporation™, and a Principles of Responsible Investing signatory.

Important Disclosures

The Technology Category lists were compiled through the Morningstar Separate Account/CIT Fund Database, as of the fourth quarter of 2023, based on data populated as of March 4, 2024. The data for the separate account and CIT rankings was pulled February 21, 2024. A total of 3,526 strategies existed in the overall U.S. equity universe. It is estimated that a total of 42 strategies appeared in the Technology Category for the 1-year period ending December 31, 2023. It is unknown the number of strategies that appeared in the Technology Category for the 5-year period ending December 31, 2023. There was no fee to be considered for these recognitions.

Past performance is no indication of future results. All investments involve a risk of loss.

Risks: The Bailard Technology Composite is not by itself a complete investment program and is best suited for investors who can accept the above average risk generally associated with growth stocks and technology stocks. The strategy is primarily subject to the risk that the market value of investments will fluctuate as stock markets fluctuate plus the style and sector risks associated with a complete weighting in the technology sector, which may be more volatile than the overall stock market. The strategy is also subject to the size risks associated with investments in smaller market cap stocks in addition to its predominant tilt toward large cap stocks. The strategy may invest in American Depository Receipts (ADRs) and Global Depository Receipts (GDRs) which are subject to the same risks as the foreign securities that they evidence or into which they may be converted (including political or economic instability, the impact of currency rate fluctuations and different accounting standards). The strategy may invest in derivative securities, which may be volatile and may increase investment leverage.

The application of various environmental, social, and governance screens as part of a socially responsible investment strategy may result in the exclusion of securities that might otherwise merit investment, potentially resulting in lower returns than a similar investment strategy without such screens or other strategies that use a different methodology to exclude issuers or evaluate ESG criteria. Investors can differ in their views of what constitutes positive or negative ESG characteristics. As a result, the strategy may invest in issuers that do not reflect the ESG beliefs and values of any particular investor.

Adherence with strategy’s ESG criteria is determined at the date of purchase. Individual equity holdings in the strategy may cease to meet the relevant ESG criteria after the initial purchase but may nevertheless remain in the strategy until a future review or rebalance by the Bailard. As a result, certain securities in the strategy or the client’s portfolio as a whole, may not meet the relevant ESG criteria at all times.

In evaluating a security or issuer based on ESG criteria, we are dependent upon certain information and data from third party providers of ESG research, which may be incomplete, inaccurate or unavailable. As a result, there is a risk that we may incorrectly assess a security or issuer. There is also a risk that we may not apply the relevant ESG criteria correctly or that the strategy could have indirect exposure to issuers that do not meet the relevant ESG criteria used by the strategy. We do not make any representation or warranty, express or implied, with respect to the fairness, correctness, accuracy, reasonableness or completeness of such ESG assessment. There may be limitations with respect to availability of ESG data in certain sectors, as well as limited availability of investments with positive ESG assessments in certain sectors. Our evaluation of ESG criteria is subjective and may change over time.

There can be no assurance that this or any investment strategy will achieve its investment objectives. All investments have the risk of loss.

Performance Disclosures

Composite Definition:

The Technology Composite (“the Composite”) includes all portfolios invested primarily in the stocks of firms that predominately use technology to drive their business. The Technology Composite is a carve-out (the “Carve-Out”) from a composite (the Bailard Inc. Technology & Science Composite) that was managed to the firm’s all cap growth / technology and science equity strategy.  The Carve Out’s portfolio consists of all holdings in the Technology & Science Composite after filtering out health care stocks as defined by GICS. Through June 2016, cash was allocated to the Carve-Out based on the relative value of its holdings within the Technology & Science Composite. Since July 2016 the Carve-Out has been managed as a sub-portfolio with its own cash. As of December 31, 2023, the Composite from which the Carve-Out was drawn consisted of a single mutual fund portfolio, which has been managed in an advisory or subadvisory capacity since 2001. The Composite had a market value of $150.6M as of December 31, 2023. The Composite’s returns are total returns presented net of management fees (“net of fees”) and assume reinvestment of dividends and other earnings. The returns do not reflect a fiduciary fulfilment fee payable to Bailard (where applicable), or custody and other account expenses not payable to Bailard.

Gross of management fee returns were calculated by Bailard’s portfolio accounting system. Through June 2016, net of management fee performance was calculated by netting down the gross return by a model fee of 0.65% (applied by reducing monthly returns by 0.054%). From July 2016, net of management fee performance was calculated by netting down the gross return by a model fee of 0.75% (applied by reducing monthly returns by 0.0625%). This model fee is representative of the fees charged for a separately managed portfolio and is the highest management fee for this strategy. As disclosed in Bailard Institutional’s Form ADV Part 2A, Bailard Institutional’s annual fee schedule for new accounts is 0.75% of the first $100 million and 0.70% on assets over $100 million. The Composite’s complete return history and a list of Bailard’s composites are available upon request.

Individual account management and construction will vary depending on each client’s investment needs and objectives, including liquidity needs, tax situation, risk tolerance and investment restrictions. Individual accounts may not have the same management fees, expenses, diversification, distributions and cash flows as the Composite account. As a result, an account’s actual performance may differ from the performance presented above due to, among other things, timing of investment, contributions and withdrawals, and the client’s restrictions, such as restrictions on eligibility to participate in initial public offerings. In addition, performance does not reflect the effects of taxation, which result in lower returns to taxable investors. An investment in this strategy involves a risk of loss, and the value of an investment in this strategy may decrease as well as increase. No representation is made that any account will obtain similar results to those shown above.