Thomas Butch, Kei Kamara and Robb Heineman
(January 17, 2013) - Sporting Club
unveiled Ivy Funds as the first-ever jersey sponsor for Sporting Kansas
City as part of a multi-year agreement announced at the 2013 MLS
SuperDraft on Thursday. Headquartered in Overland Park, Kan., Ivy Funds becomes the presenting jersey partner of Sporting Kansas City and official investment management partner of Sporting Club.
The Ivy Funds logo will be prominently displayed on the front of all
team jerseys at the start of the 2013 MLS season, including Sporting
Kansas City's new 2013 home uniform that will launch on Feb. 27. Fans
may now access a special pre-sale for home and away jerseys at shop.sportingkc.com to be among the first to order the team's newest gear.
"They offer us everything we wanted, with the key attribute being
local," said Sporting Club CEO Robb Heineman. "Local was always the
thing that was going to be most important to us in a jersey sponsor and
then innovation. Ivy Funds has proven that they're an innovator in their
field. We wanted something that connected to our community in a large
way and that's exactly what this relationship is going to allow us to
do."
The partnership
aligns two companies based in Kansas City that have brands and business
models that are national in scope. The multi-faceted and fully
integrated corporate sponsorship also provides Ivy Funds with naming
rights to the Executive Suite level at Sporting Park, entertainment at
the stadium for clients and employees, as well as engagement
opportunities with Sporting KC players for charitable efforts and
appearances.
"Sporting Club is an exemplary franchise on and off the field, and
we look forward to growing with them as soccer rapidly cements its place
among professional sports in the United States, as it already has
globally," said Thomas Butch, CEO and President of Ivy Funds
Distributor, Inc. "With its visionary management, world-class venue and
talented, accessible players and coaches, Sporting Kansas City provides a
great partner to further extend the Ivy Funds brand throughout the
United States and abroad. We look forward to a broad-based, constructive
partnership."
Ivy Funds Distributor, Inc. became
an affiliate of Kansas City-based Waddell & Reed in 2003 and has
grown to be one of the fastest growing mutual fund families in the
country over the last 10 years. Ivy Funds offers a broad mutual fund
lineup and has ranked among the top performing fund families over a
five-year period in Barron's "Best Mutual Fund Families" each of the
last two years.
Ivy Funds' parent Waddell & Reed Financial,
Inc., is a publicly traded investment management and financial planning
company (NYSE:WDR). Originally founded in Kansas City in 1937, Waddell
& Reed had $95 billion in assets under management at Sept. 30, 2012.
"It is gratifying that Ivy Funds' growth and recognition in the
marketplace has enabled so ambitious a partnership with so outstanding a
partner," said Henry J. Herrmann, Chairman and CEO of Waddell &
Reed Financial, Inc., Ivy Funds' parent company, which has been based in
Kansas City since its origin in 1937. "We believe our relationship with
Sporting Club will enhance the already strong brand recognition of Ivy
Funds and Waddell & Reed among all of our stakeholders."
Ivy Funds' sports sponsorship presence has been showcased at
Sporting Park and Kauffman Stadium, and the company also serves as the
lead sponsor of the Waddell & Reed Kansas City Marathon, with Ivy
Funds since 2005.
About Ivy Funds
Ivy
Funds offers a broad mutual fund lineup covering all major asset
categories, including international and domestic equity funds, asset
allocation funds, fixed income funds and money market funds.
Ivy Funds Distributor, Inc. is an affiliate of Waddell & Reed
Financial, Inc. (NYSE:WDR). Through its subsidiaries, Waddell & Reed
Financial, Inc. provides investment management and financial planning
services to clients throughout the United States. Ivy Investment
Management Company serves as investment advisor to the Ivy Funds. Ivy
Funds Distributor, Inc. serves as principal underwriter and distributor
to the Ivy Funds.
About Sporting Club
Sporting Club is owned by a group of local Kansas City business and
community leaders comprised of Neal Patterson, Cliff Illig, Pat Curran,
Greg Maday and Robb Heineman. Its flagship Major League Soccer property,
Sporting Kansas City, is the only locally owned professional sports
team in the city and the club prides itself on its commitment and vision
to provide high-performance entertainment and consumer experiences.
Sporting Club purchased the team from the Hunt Sports Group in 2006,
and under their direction have opened a world-class training center at
Swope Park and state-of-the-art Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan.,
while investing in the Sporting KC Academy for developing youth into
homegrown talent. Sporting Kansas City enters its 18th season as a
charter member of Major League Soccer and has finished in first place in
the Eastern Conference each of the last two seasons. The team will
represent Major League Soccer in the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League
as winners of the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup.
Barron's rankings are based on asset-weighted returns in five
categories: domestic equity, world equity (including international and
global portfolios), mixed equity (stocks and bonds), taxable bonds and
tax exempt funds. Rankings also take into account an individual fund's
performance within its Lipper peer group. Sales charges are not included
in the calculation of returns, and the ranking period included time
periods during which some funds' returns were affected by expense
reduction arrangements. In the 2012 rankings, published on Feb. 6, 2012,
Ivy Funds is number one over the last five years for the second year in
a row, out of 53 firms ranked. In last year's rankings
(published Feb. 7, 2011) Ivy Funds ranked first in terms of performance
over the five-year period ended Dec. 31, 2010, out of 53 fund families
ranked. Over the most recent one-year period, Ivy Funds ranked 25th out
of 58 firms. Over the most recent ten-year period, Ivy Funds ranked five
out of 45 firms.
Investors should consider the investment
objectives, risks, charges and expenses of a fund carefully before
investing. For a prospectus, or if available, a summary prospectus,
containing this and other information for any of the Ivy Funds, call
your financial advisor or visit www.ivyfunds.com. Please read the
prospectus or summary prospectus carefully before investing.
Investment return and principal value will fluctuate, and it is
possible to lose money by investing. Past performance is not a guarantee
of future results. |
