THORNBURG LIMITED TERM MUNICIPAL FUND CELEBRATES ITS 30-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Transcription

1 CONTACT: Rebecca Carrier 2300 North Ridgetop Road, Santa Fe, NM Phone: Fax: September 29, 2014 For Immediate Release THORNBURG LIMITED TERM MUNICIPAL FUND CELEBRATES ITS 30-YEAR ANNIVERSARY (Santa Fe NM) The Thornburg Limited Term Municipal Fund (LTMFX) reached its 30th anniversary milestone on September 28, As of June 30, it has a five out of five overall rating by Lipper for both consistent return (among 47 Short-Intermediate Muni Debt funds) and preservation (among 4,944 fixed income funds) and the Fund carries a four out of five star Overall Morningstar Rating (among 163 Muni National Short funds, based on risk-adjusted returns). In March, the Fund s institutional share class was recognized by Lipper as the Best Short-Intermediate Debt Fund for the 10- year period ended 11/30/13 among 29 funds within the category. Co-managed by Christopher Ryon and Josh Gonze, the Fund is a laddered portfolio of U.S. municipal bonds with average maturities of less than five years. A laddered strategy builds a portfolio of bonds with staggered maturities to minimize interest-rate risk and increase liquidity. The Fund aims to obtain as high a level of current income exempt from federal individual income tax as is consistent, in the view of the Fund s investment advisor, with preservation of capital. Our Limited Term Municipal Fund is the largest of the firm s bond funds, said Gonze. Our focus is extracting good value from investment-grade municipal bonds, without taking on a high degree of interest rate risk North Ridgetop Road Santa Fe, New Mexico tel toll-free fax thornburg.com

2 Although it has a classic laddered structure, don t mistake it for a passively managed fund, said Ryon. Our investment process involves measuring and evaluating several risks, such as duration (a measure of interest rate sensitivity), credit and sector (including the risk of non-payment), and security selection (individual security idiosyncratic risk). By utilizing a laddered structure, which was successful 70% of the time over the period we studied* (12/31/1997 through 12/31/2013), we can focus more time on these areas of risk. Originally named the Tax Free Municipal Lease Fund, the Limited Term Municipal Fund was the first bond fund created by Thornburg Investment Management s Founder and Chairman, Garrett Thornburg, and current CEO and CIO, Brian McMahon. The Fund s strategy evolved after tax laws changed in 1984, allowing banks to finance municipalities with borrowed money. As the Fund evolved, Thornburg and McMahon began buying short-term, high-quality notes and bonds and laddering their maturities, which is how the Fund is structured and managed today. In the beginning, we had around $12 million in total assets under management, said Brian McMahon. Not enough to pay the fund expenses, let alone provide any revenue to Thornburg Investment Management. Fortunately, the Fund s performance record was pretty good, we grew bit by bit, and by late 1986 we believed that Limited Term Municipal Fund could reach breakeven. A new entity that was gathering a following, Morningstar, first rated the Fund in late 1987: five stars! We copied their reports on a Xerox machine, and used them as our brochures. The Fund now has $6.8 billion in assets and an average annual return of 5.23% since inception (A Shares without sales charge as of 6/30/14). For recent performance, visit

3 Thornburg Investment Management is a privately owned global investment firm that offers a range of solutions for retail and institutional investors. We are driven by our mission to help our clients reach their long-term financial goals through fundamental research and active portfolio management. Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, we manage approximately $88 billion (as of June 30, 2014) across seven equity and 11 bond mutual funds, separate accounts for high net worth investors and institutional accounts, and five UCITS funds for non-u.s. investors. Performance data shown represents past performance and is no guarantee of future results. Investment return and principal value will fluctuate so shares, when redeemed, may be worth more or less than their original cost. Current performance may be lower or higher than quoted. For performance current to the most recent month end, visit thornburg.com or call The maximum sales charge for the Fund s A shares is 1.50%. The total annual operating expenses for the A shares are 0.71%. Before investing, carefully consider the Fund s investment goals, risks, charges, and expenses. For a prospectus or summary prospectus containing this and other information, contact your financial advisor or visit thornburg.com. Read them carefully before investing. Thornburg Limited Term Municipal Fund, A shares, received the following Lipper ratings for the three-, five- and 10-year periods, respectively: Consistent Return 5 (47 funds), 5 (40 funds), 5 (33 funds); Preservation 5 (4,944 funds), 4 (4,079 funds), 5 (2,838 funds), as of 6/30/14. Lipper ratings for Preservation reflect funds historical loss avoidance relative to other funds within the same asset class. Lipper ratings for Consistent Return reflect funds historical risk-adjusted returns, adjusted for volatility, relative to peers. The ratings are subject to change every month and are based on an equal-weighted average of percentile ranks over three-, five- and 10- year periods. The highest 20% of funds in each peer group are named Lipper Leader or a score of 5 for Total Return, the next 20% receive a score of 4, the middle 20% are scored 3, the next 20% are scored 2, and the

4 lowest 20% are scored 1. Lipper Leader ratings are not intended to predict future results, and Lipper does not guarantee the accuracy of this information. More information is available at Lipper Leader Copyright 2014, Thomson Reuters, All Rights Reserved. Overall Morningstar Ratings use a weighted average of the Fund s three-, five- and 10-year ratings: respectively, four stars, five stars, and four stars for Class A shares among 163, 129, and 103 Muni National Short funds, as of 6/30/14. To determine a fund's Morningstar Rating, funds with at least a three-year history are ranked in their categories by their Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return scores. The top 10% receive 5 stars; the next 22.5%, 4 stars; the middle 35%, 3 stars; the next 22.5%, 2 stars; and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. The Risk-Adjusted Return accounts for variation in a fund's performance (including the effects of all sales charges), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. Other share classes may have different performance characteristics Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Lipper Fund Awards are granted annually to the fund in each Lipper classification that consistently delivered the strongest risk-adjusted performance (calculated with dividends reinvested and without sales charges). Lipper fund classification awards are given for the three-year, five-year, and 10-year periods. Thornburg did not win the awards for other time periods. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments in the Fund carry risks, including possible loss of principal. Funds investing in bonds have the same interest rate, inflation, and credit risks that are associated with the underlying bonds. The principal value of bonds will fluctuate relative to changes in interest rates, decreasing when interest rates rise. Unlike bonds, bond funds have ongoing fees and expenses. Investments in the Fund are not FDIC insured, nor are they deposits of or guaranteed by a bank or any other entity. The laddering strategy does not assure or guarantee better performance than a non-laddered portfolio and cannot eliminate the risk of investment losses.

5 * To read the study, visit Thornburg Funds are distributed by Thornburg Securities Corp. # # #