The Bailard Foundation continues to be a bright spot of the Bailard community. In the last year, the Foundation donated over $197,200 to 22 charities and held seven successful volunteer events. The Bailard Foundation highlights the best of Bailard in a genuine way by putting its community first, showing compassion to those in need, and always going the extra mile for others.
The focus areas of giving for the Foundation remain affordable housing, homelessness and poverty, and financial literacy. In its four years since inception, the Foundation has made over $454,700 in impact grants. This giving is a combination of support from Bailard, its clients, employees, and friends of the Firm.
In this fourth year, the members of the Board worked to increase community engagement with additional volunteer opportunities. In-person engagement became easier as COVID subsided across the country and the Bailard team took full advantage of the ability to be in person. Volunteer opportunities included teaching financial literacy to high school students, volunteering twice with Bay Area food banks, physical labor with Habitat for Humanity of Greater San Francisco, and co-hosting two Pride celebrations for a homeless shelter network in San Francisco alongside Bailard’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee.
The Foundation also worked to establish routine donations for ten charities to provide consistent financial support, while maintaining a portion of its annual funds to be used for just-in-time donations. This allows the charities to rely on funding as part of their annual budgets and helps disseminate the funds in a reliable way, while preserving our ability to react to real-time needs as they arise. In the coming year, the Foundation will continue to evaluate new charities and offer new volunteer events.
Volunteer Events
The Foundation held its largest volunteer event in April with Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco: 33 Bailard colleagues participated, representing over half of the Firm’s locally-based employees. In what is also a treasured opportunity to work together, the group designed and constructed three playhouses, which were donated to Mission Neighborhood Center and also provided funds to help build eight permanently affordable homes in the Bay Area.
The Foundation’s most recent volunteer event was held in late June in conjunction with Bailard’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee in celebration of Pride Month. Bailard teammates helped to bring a celebration of the Month to A Woman’s Place. A Woman’s Place provides the only 24-hour supportive residential services in San Francisco, providing emergency shelter and long-term treatment to all women, regardless of their special needs.
Bailard has collectively donated more than 240 volunteer hours since it began hosting employee events one year ago in June 2022.
The Bailard Foundation supports initiatives that the Firm, its employees, and its clients value, as we seek to collectively improve the communities in which we live, work, and engage. The Bailard Foundation has a board of directors that is led by chairwoman Terri Bailard, widow of Firm co-founder Tom Bailard, and features both select friends of Bailard, Inc. and employees.
Recent Insights
Quarterly International Equity Strategy Q1 2024
The global economic environment changed dramatically in the first quarter as bond yields, which had marched down in the 4th quarter on the belief that central bank pivots were fast approaching, reversed course. Prospects for mid-year reductions in short-term interest rates remain high for Europe and the UK, but persistent strength in the U.S. labor market has pushed prospects for a shift there closer to the end of 2024. Still, non-U.S. equities found purchase in solid earnings even as they faced headwinds from a strong dollar due to the evolving central bank dynamics and heightened geopolitical risks. As noted below, we see a range of foreign stocks that can flourish in the current environment and remain excited for the potential of stocks both in developed and emerging markets to compete well against U.S. peers.
April 25, 2024
Quarterly Technology Science Equity Strategy Q1 2024
The Bailard Technology Strategy posted a Q1 total return of 17.08% net of fees, meaningfully ahead of the competitor-comprised benchmarks, with the Morningstar U.S. Open End Technology Category return of 8.56% and the Lipper Science and Technology Fund Index return of 12.18%. The Strategy also led both the S&P North American Technology Index return of 15.31% and the mega-cap Nasdaq-100 Index return of 8.72%. Over longer time periods of 3, 5, and 10 years, the Strategy’s net returns continued to lead the competitor’s peer group benchmarks.
April 17, 2024
Quarterly Small Value ESG Equity Strategy Q1 2024
Equity markets rose again in Q1, but relative returns were skewed toward growth. The seven mega cap technology stocks that did so well in 2023 retained their “magnificence” in Q1, resulting in indices with Magnificent 7 exposure beating indices that lacked it. Curiously, rising interest rates over the quarter did not dampen investors’ enthusiasm for long duration (growth) assets, even with the Fed signaling that potential rate cuts may come later and to a lesser degree than had previously been anticipated.
April 15, 2024
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