Morningstar Launches Real Asset Index For Benchmarking Diversified Portfolio of Inflation-Hedged Investments

CHICAGO, Jan. 17, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, has launched the Morningstar^® US Real Asset Index^SM, a diversified portfolio of liquid assets that traditionally provide a hedge against inflation, including Treasury inflation-protected securities (TIPS), real estate investment trusts (REITs), and commodity stocks and futures.

"Inflation erodes the value of financial assets. While inflation has been low overall in recent decades, the cost of items retirees consume—healthcare, gas, food—has been rising at a fast clip," Sanjay Arya, senior vice president of Morningstar Indexes, said. "Investors have been showing a great deal of interest in holding a variety of investments that keep pace with inflation and add portfolio diversification, and the investment industry is paying attention. Since early 2010, more than 20 new funds have been launched that allocate between several real asset classes. The Morningstar US Real Asset Index will allow investors to better benchmark their real return investments and gain a deeper understanding of the benefits of adding a broad spectrum of inflation-hedged assets to their portfolios."

The Morningstar US Real Asset Index consists of liquid assets that can be accessed easily in public markets. The index holds approximately 40% TIPS, 30% commodities futures, 15% REITs, and 15% commodity stocks, including both companies involved with resource extraction and master limited partnerships (MLPs) engaged in resource transportation and processing. Morningstar reconstitutes the index semi-annually. Click here to learn more about how real assets can help hedge against inflation risk.

Introduced in 2002, the Morningstar Indexes include a broad range of traditional beta global equity, fixed income, and commodity indexes that are also combined to form an asset allocation index series. Morningstar Indexes also offers a series of active equity indexes that draw on the equity, fund, and asset allocation research across the company. Currently, 32 ETFs and one ETN track Morningstar Indexes. For more information about all of Morningstar's indexes, visit http://indexes.morningstar.com. Morningstar Indexes is part of the Morningstar Investment Management division.

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 individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on more than 385,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 8 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 has approximately $195 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2012. The company has operations in 27 countries.

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.