Brandes Core Plus Fixed Income Fund I Receives Five-Star Overall Morningstar Rating™

SAN DIEGO, July 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Brandes Investment Partners, L.P., a value investment firm, today announced that the Brandes Core Plus Fixed Income Fund I (BCPIX) has earned a Five-Star Overall Morningstar Rating™ among 931 U.S.-domiciled intermediate-term bond funds for the period ending June 30, 2014.

The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the fund's 3-, 5-, and 10-year (if applicable) Morningstar Ratings Metrics, which are based on risk-adjusted return performance.

Launched in 2007, the Brandes Core Plus Fixed Income Fund invests in a concentrated portfolio (fewer than 120 holdings on average) relative to the Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. The Fund has a straightforward (no complex alternatives or derivatives) portfolio of corporate bonds and other fixed-income securities selling at discounts to our estimates of their intrinsic value. This strategy is designed to help investors pursue higher income potential, focus on total return and seek potential insulation from rising interest rates.

"Fixed-income investing is a natural extension of the Brandes value approach. We couldn't be more pleased to see our team's hard work and strong performance receive this esteemed recognition," says Chuck Gramling, CFA, Director of Fixed Income. "Much like our long-term focus on value stocks, our bond pickers look for debt securities that we think are misunderstood, overlooked and underappreciated by the market."

About Brandes Investment Partners, L.P.
Brandes is a leading investment advisory firm, specializing in managing global equity and fixed-income assets for clients worldwide. Since the firm's inception in 1974, Brandes has consistently applied the value investing approach, pioneered by Benjamin Graham, to security selection and was among the first investment firms to bring a global perspective to value investing. The independently owned firm manages a variety of active investment strategies and applies its investment philosophy consistently in all market conditions.

To learn more about the Brandes Core Plus Fixed Income Fund and other Brandes value equity and fixed-income funds, visit brandesfunds.com.

Mutual fund investing involves risk. Principal loss is possible.

A mutual fund's investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses must be considered carefully before investing. The statutory and summary prospectuses contain this and other important information about the investment company, and may be obtained by calling 1.800.395.3807 or visiting www.brandesfunds.com. Read carefully before investing.

Because the values of the Fund's investments will fluctuate with market conditions, so will the value of your investment in the Fund. You could lose money on your investment in the Fund, or the Fund could underperform other investments. As with most fixed income funds, the income on and value of your shares in the Fund will fluctuate along with interest rates. When interest rates rise, the market prices of the debt securities the Fund owns usually decline. When interest rates fall, the prices of these securities usually increase. Generally, the longer the Fund's average portfolio maturity and the lower the average quality of its portfolio, the greater the price fluctuation. The price of any security owned by the Fund may also fall in response to events affecting the issuer of the security, such as its ability to continue to make principal and interest payments or its credit rating. Below investment grade debt securities are speculative and involve a greater risk of default and price change due to changes in the issuer's creditworthiness. The market prices of these debt securities may fluctuate more than the market prices of investment grade debt securities and may decline significantly in periods of general economic difficulty. The Fund may hold illiquid securities which may reduce the return of the Fund because it may be unable to sell such illiquid securities at an advantageous time or price. Illiquid securities may also be difficult to value. The Fund is actively managed, and may frequently buy and sell securities. Frequent trading increases a Fund's portfolio turnover rate and may increase transaction costs, such as brokerage commissions and taxes, which in turn could detract from the Fund's performance.

Investing in foreign securities poses additional risks. The performance of foreign securities can be adversely affected by the different political, regulatory and economic environments and other overall economic conditions in the countries where the Fund invests. Emerging country markets involve greater risk and volatility than more developed markets. Some emerging markets countries may have fixed or managed currencies that are not free-floating against the U.S. dollar. Certain of these currencies may experience substantial fluctuations or steady devaluation relative to the U.S. dollar. Mortgage-related securities are subject to certain additional risks. Rising interest rates tend to extend the duration of mortgage-related securities, making them more sensitive to changes in interest rates. As a result, when holding mortgage-related securities in a period of rising interest rates, a Fund may exhibit additional volatility. In addition, mortgage-related securities are subject to prepayment risk. When interest rates decline, borrowers may pay off their mortgages sooner than expected. This can reduce the returns of a Fund because it will have to reinvest that money at the lower prevailing interest rates.

Copyright 2014 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar; (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.

For each fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) The Overall Morningstar Rating for a fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. The Core Plus Fixed Income Fund was rated against the following numbers of intermediate-term bond funds over the following time periods: 931 funds in the last three years and 797 funds in the last five years. With respect to these intermediate-term bond funds as of 6/30/14, the Core Plus Fixed Income Fund received a Morningstar Rating of four stars for the three-year period and five stars for the five-year period. The Fund has experienced recent negative returns. For current performance, please view the performance page of the website or call 800.395.3807. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results.

The Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is an unmanaged index consisting of U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate, taxable bonds. The U.S. Aggregate Bond Index is a broad-based benchmark that measures the investment grade, U.S. dollar-denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market, including Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, MBS (agency fixed-rate and hybrid ARM passthroughs), ABS, and CMBS. The U.S. Aggregate rolls up into other Barclays flagship indices such as the multi-currency Global Aggregate Index and the U.S. Universal Index, which includes high yield and emerging markets debt. The U.S. Aggregate Index was created in 1986, with index history backfilled to January 1, 1976. The index is a total return index which reflects the price changes and interest of each bond in the index. 

It is not possible to invest directly in an index.

The foregoing reflects the thoughts and opinions of Brandes Investment Partners® exclusively and is subject to change without notice. Strategies discussed are subject to change at any time by the investment manager in its discretion due to market conditions or opportunities. The information provided in this material should not be considered a recommendation to purchase or sell any particular security.

Brandes Investment Partners® is a registered trademark of Brandes Investment Partners, L.P., in the United States and Canada.

Brandes Investment Partners, L.P., is the advisor to the Brandes Core Plus Fixed Income Fund. The Brandes Core Plus Fixed Income Fund is distributed by Quasar Distributors, LLC.

SOURCE Brandes Investment Partners