Morningstar Experts to Share Retirement Strategies and Investing Opportunities at Free Online Individual Investor Conference on April 2

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Feb 29, 2016, 01:15 ET

CHICAGO, Feb. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Analysts and other investing specialists from Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN) will highlight retirement strategies and investment opportunities beginning at 9 a.m. Central Time on Saturday, April 2, 2016, at Morningstar's online conference for investors. The Individual Investor Conference is a free webcast and features a variety of analysts regularly seen on Morningstar.com®, the company's individual investor website.

"We invite investors to join us for timely, in-depth sessions about the current economic landscape; retirement security, including the 'bucket approach' to retirement income; fixed-income and tax-efficient investing; and more," Jason Stipp, editor of Morningstar.com, said. "Our speakers will share insights and ideas to help individuals make more confident and informed decisions and overcome today's biggest investing challenges."

Conference schedule:

9 a.m., "Taking the Market's Temperature": Robert Johnson, CFA, Morningstar's director of economic analysis, will be joined by Michael Fredericks, managing director, portfolio manager, and head of U.S. retail asset allocation for BlackRock's Portfolio Strategies group, and Northern Trust Chief Economist Carl Tannenbaum to discuss the current economic and market environment.
10 a.m., "Securing Your Retirement": Christine Benz, director of personal finance, Morningstar, and Harold Evensky, financial planner and chairman, Evensky & Katz Wealth Management, will discuss the key pillars of retirement security for investors at every life stage—from early-career savers to those already in retirement.
11 a.m., "What's Next for My Bonds?": This panel discussion, featuring Sarah Bush, Morningstar's director of manager research for fixed-income strategies; Dario Castagna, CFA, associate portfolio manager for Morningstar's Investment Management group; and Mary Ellen Stanek, CFA, managing director and chief investment officer for Baird Advisors and president of Baird Funds, will cover the effect of rising interest rates on core bonds, explore the outlook for high-yield and international bonds, and debate the merits of actively and passively managed fixed-income funds.
12 p.m., "What it Takes to Make Our Picks List": In this video, learn about the rigorous criteria Morningstar requires stocks and funds to meet before recommending them to investors and how Morningstar's proprietary ratings and research can help investors quickly identify the best of the best.
12:30 p.m., "The Picks Panel: Best Ideas from Morningstar Analysts": Morningstar's Elizabeth Collins, director of equity research, North America; Ben Johnson, director of global ETF research and editor of Morningstar® ETFInvestor^SM; and Russ Kinnel, director of manager research and editor of Morningstar® FundInvestor^SM; will discuss some of Morningstar's best stock and fund ideas for long-term investors.
1:30 p.m., "Portfolio Planning: Make a Lean, Mean, Tax-Efficient Machine": Benz will offer guidance for crafting a solid plan for portfolio tax efficiency, including how to maximize tax shelters, optimize taxable portfolios, find the best tax-smart investments, and build a tax-savvy retirement-drawdown plan.

Register for the free Morningstar Individual Investor Conference at http://www.morningstar.com/conference. Follow the conference conversation on Twitter or with the hashtag #MIIC2016. Speakers will answer questions from participants live during the conference; to submit questions in advance, email [email protected]. Replays of conference sessions will be available on Morningstar.com in the weeks following the event.

About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on more than 510,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 17 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $180 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Dec. 31, 2015. The company has operations in 27 countries.

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Media Contact:

Carling Spelhaug, +1 312-696-6150 or [email protected]

SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.