Two Milwaukee-area women named to Morningstar’s list of top female fund managers

Two Milwaukee area female fund managers, Janet Rilling, head of fixed income, senior portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, and Mary Ellen Stanek, president of Baird Funds and co-chief investment officer of Baird Advisors, have been named to Morningstar’s list of the Top Female Fund Managers of 2024.

Rilling was one of three women on the list highlighted by Morningstar.

“In July 2008, Rilling was named a portfolio manager of Allspring Core Plus Bond STYJX, which earns a Silver rating on its cheapest share class. She implements a thoughtful approach that balances quantitative rigor with qualitative judgment,” Morningstar’s report says. “The portfolio’s results speak for themselves: Over her tenure through January 2024, the fund’s cheapest share class outpaced 90% of peers on a total-return basis. Impressively, it also delivered strong risk-adjusted returns (as measured by the Sharpe ratio), placing it in the top decile of its peer group.”

Mary Ellen Stanek
Mary Ellen Stanek

Stanek was listed by Morningstar as the top female fixed-income manager for managing the Baird Core Plus Bond, Baird Short-Term Bond, Baird Core Bond and Baird Ultra Short Bond funds.

Andrew Weiland
Andrew is the editor of BizTimes Milwaukee. He joined BizTimes in 2003, serving as managing editor and real estate reporter for 11 years before being promoted to editor in 2015. An award-winning journalist, Weiland is a five-time winner in the Milwaukee Press Club Excellence in Journalism Awards contest and a three-time winner in the Alliance of Area Business Publishers (AABP) Awards contest. He is also a regular guest on WISN-TV Channel 12's 4 p.m. newscast to discuss the week's most significant business news stories.