Morningstar Launches Manager Research Services for Institutional Investors

CHICAGO, June 17, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today introduced a new service to help institutional investors evaluate funds, investment strategies, and asset management firms. Morningstar Manager Research Services combines the firm's fund research reports, ratings, software, tools, and proprietary data with access to Morningstar's manager research analysts. It complements internal due diligence functions for institutions such as banks, wealth managers, insurers, sovereign wealth funds, pensions, endowments, and foundations.  

"Morningstar Manager Research Services is a unique and customizable offering that combines all of our research, data, and tools with access to the unique insights of our manager research analyst team. We've provided analyst access on the equity research side of the house for several years, and firms began asking to talk to our manager research analyst team as well," Kunal Kapoor, head of global information products and client solutions for Morningstar, said. "To better represent the breadth and depth of their expertise, we've also changed the name of the analyst team from fund research to manager research. Globally, we have more than 110 manager research analysts in 15 markets who do more than rate and cover funds—they also specialize in analyzing the managers and firms that are running the funds."

Kapoor added, "We've provided independent analyst research on strategies, firms, and investment trends for nearly 30 years. Having direct access to our manager research analysts can help institutions with their research due diligence, an important part of the process of selecting investments and creating portfolios that deliver better outcomes for investors. As institutional investors work to comply with new regulations and fulfill client demands, Morningstar can help them conduct and complement their own research and supplement advisor and investor communication."

Morningstar Manager Research Services includes:

• Comprehensive insights from manager research analysts, with access by phone, email, or in person;
• Research reports for up to 4,000 funds globally, including active, passive, multi-asset, exchange-traded fund, and closed-end fund strategies, produced by more than 110 manager research analysts globally;
• Morningstar Analyst Rating™ for funds, which represents the Morningstar analysts' conviction in the fund's ability to outperform on a risk-adjusted basis over the long term and is expressed as Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, or Negative. Analysts arrive at a rating through an evaluation of five key pillars—People, Process, Parent, Performance, and Price—each of which are rated as Positive, Neutral, or Negative and then combined for the overall Morningstar Analyst Rating. The ratings are available for approximately 3,500 funds globally;
• Morningstar® Stewardship Grade^SM for approximately 35 fund firms in the United States and Canada. Firms receive a grade from A to F to help investors identify companies that do a good or poor job of aligning interests with their fund shareholders. The grade evaluates corporate culture, manager incentives, fees, and regulatory history, along with board quality for U.S. firms;
• Morningstar Rating™ for more than 35,000 funds globally, which is a quantitative, risk-adjusted measure of a fund's past performance and expressed as 1 to 5 stars;
• Research studies, white papers, and perspective about relevant issues, investment themes, asset class trends, and industry events;
• Screening, monitoring, and portfolio attribution tools; and
• An expansive data universe that encompasses approximately 160,200 open-end mutual funds, 10,700 exchange-traded funds, 7,400 closed-end funds, and 10,700 separate accounts and collective investment trusts.

Morningstar delivers Manager Research Services in concert with Morningstar Direct^SM, its institutional global research platform. The price varies based on the level of analyst access and customization, and access to Morningstar's analysts varies based on the jurisdiction.

More information about Morningstar Manager Research Services is available at http://global.morningstar.com/ManagerResearchServicesPR.

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 approximately 456,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 12 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 registered investment advisor subsidiaries and had approximately $164 billion in assets under advisement and management as of March 31, 2014. The company has operations in 27 countries.

Analyst Ratings are subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Analyst Ratings are based on Morningstar analysts' current expectations about future events and therefore involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Morningstar's expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected. Morningstar does not represent its Analyst Ratings to be guarantees nor should they be viewed as an assessment of a fund's or the fund's underlying securities' creditworthiness. This press release is for informational purposes only; it should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the mutual funds noted within.

©2014 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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Media Contact:
Nadine Youssef, +1 312-696-6601 or [email protected]

SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.