Morningstar Launches New Global Suite of Bond Indexes

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May 21, 2019, 08:30 ET

Comprehensive family of indexes represents all major fixed-income markets and asset classes

CHICAGO, May 21, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today introduced a new global suite of bond indexes that represent all major fixed-income markets and asset classes. These indexes are designed to serve as portfolio benchmarks and building blocks for portfolio construction.

The Morningstar bond indexes define the opportunity set for fixed-income investors in a portfolio-friendly structure by striking a balance between breadth of market coverage and investability, with an emphasis on liquid, tradable securities.

"Fixed income plays an essential role in helping investors achieve their financial goals," said Sanjay Arya, head of Indexes at Morningstar. "Understanding the underlying market is key to improving investment outcomes, and it is our belief that the democratization of information levels the playing field for everyone across the investment ecosystem. We have constructed a comprehensive global family of bond indexes that represent discrete asset class exposures, without any gaps or overlap."

In a newly published whitepaper, "A Whole New World for Bond Investing: Aligning Bond Indexes With an Evolving Market," Morningstar examines fundamental shifts in the bond market, the changing landscape for fixed-income index providers, and the growth of passive bond investing. The full paper is available here.

"Bond indexing is challenging; yet indexes are more important than ever—as tools for portfolio construction and as bases for investment products," said Dan Lefkovitz, strategist for Morningstar Indexes and author of the whitepaper. "We want to better reflect the investable market while also offering transparency into critical exposures, such as interest-rate sensitivity, credit quality, and sector allocation."

The launch of a new index suite is part of Morningstar's broader investment in the fixed-income space. To help investors make more meaningful comparisons between mutual funds in the U.S., the company recently updated its fixed-income categories, forming intermediate core bond and intermediate core-plus bond categories. Additionally, to enable more accurate, consistent and comparable analysis, Morningstar is transitioning from manager-reported to calculated fixed-income data, effective July 31, 2019 for portfolios dated as of June 30, 2019. Select countries that offer calculated data today, such as Canada, will be transitioned to the global methodology in the near future.

Learn more about the lineup of Morningstar Indexes here.

Methodology
Full information on methodology for the construction of Morningstar Fixed-Income Indexes is available here.

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, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the private capital markets. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $210 billion in assets under advisement and management as of March 31, 2019. The company has operations in 27 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on Twitter @Morningstar Inc.

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Media Contact:
Stephanie Lerdall, +1-312-696-6037 or [email protected]

SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.