Investment Objective

Fund Characteristics

• Invests primarily in high grade, intermediate-term securities rated A- or better, including Treasury, corporate and mortgage-backed obligations.
• The anticipated dollar-weighted average maturity of the portfolio is 3-7 years and its anticipated weighted-average modified duration is 2-5 years.

Investment Approach

• Investment philosophy emphasizes shifts among various sectors of the debt market, subject to the quality constraints of the portfolio . Invests in bonds diversified across market sectors.
• Utilizes a five-step investment process that focuses on key factors in relation to the Fund’s benchmark, including relative duration, maximizing cash flow, yield curve positioning, sector allocation and security selection.
• The Fund’s duration is actively managed based on perceived trends in interest rates verus the Barclays Capital Intermediate Government /Credit Bond Index.

What Makes this Fund Different?

• Capitalizes on William Blair & Company's six decades of experience in managing taxable client portfolios.
• An experienced portfolio management team whose credit analysis is backed by an extensive equity research staff.