Methodology Documents

Morningstar has conducted research on active and passive investment strategies and their associated vehicles since 1986.

This paper outlines the key assumptions and details behind our quantitative equity rating methodology.

We believe that a company's intrinsic worth results from the future cash flows it can generate. The Morningstar Rating for stocks identifies stocks trading at a discount or premium to their intrinsic worth--or fair value estimate, in Morningstar terminology.

This document describes the rationale for, and the formulas and procedures used in, calculating the Morningstar Rating for funds (commonly called the “star rating”). This methodology applies to funds receiving a star rating from Morningstar.

This paper outlines the key assumptions and details behind our quantitative equity rating methodology.

Morningstar developed the Morningstar Equity Comparables system to give investors and financial professionals an objective benchmark for comparing companies. Morningstar Equity Comparables is genuinely different to other industry classification schemes. We start from the bottom up with comparable companies, as opposed to the top down with sector definitions. For every pair of companies, we determine how similar they are–anywhere from closely comparable to distantly related based on automated analysis of the companies' own business description. We automatically analyse the text of the business description and work out whether companies are talking about similar things as they describe their businesses. Businesses described in similar terms are comparable.

Morningstar created extended performance statistics to “fill in the gap” between the inception date of a new share class or distribution channel and the inception date of the original portfolio. Extended performance lengthens the performance data that is available for the younger investment. This helps investors see how the portfolio as a whole has performed over time.

The advantages and limitations of empirical approaches to long-term wealth forecasting.

In this document we present a wide range of analyses of empirical results from the Morningstar Portfolio Risk Scoring system.

The EU's sustainability finance disclosure regulation, or SFDR, mandates that certain financial market participants must disclose the principal adverse impacts, or PAIs, of their holdings.

The paper outlines category definitions applicable to the Indian OE fund.

With the introduction of the Morningstar Quantitative Rating, we're extending a useful analytic tool to thousands of funds not covered by Morningstar's analyst team.

The tool constructs fund-level portfolios to facilitate the advisor-led models and lineups. A flexible optimization framework is created that allows for a wide variety of optimization problem formulations.

The Morningstar Sustainability Preferences Portfolio Construction Tool creates a portfolio tracking investment policy model while allowing investors to express their unique environmental, social, and governance preferences as defined in terms of product involvement and impact score.

We believe that a company's intrinsic worth results from the future cash flows it can generate. The Morningstar Rating for stocks identifies stocks trading at a discount or premium to their intrinsic worth--or fair value estimate, in Morningstar terminology.

As the field of sustainable investing matures, Morningstar continues to evolve its data, research, and analytics to help investors assess the environmental, social, and governance, or ESG, risks and attributes in their portfolios.

We present a wide range of analyses of empirical results from the Morningstar Portfolio Risk Scoring system.

Mapping a client's level of risk comfort to the Morningstar Portfolio Risk Score.

An integrated client risk-profiling and portfolio risk-scoring system.

As the field of sustainable investing matures, Morningstar continues to evolve its data, research, and analytics to help investors assess the ESG risks and attributes in their portfolios.

Managed accounts (also known as managed portfolios in markets including the United Kingdom) are investment portfolios that are managed by a portfolio manager with discretion over assets at an asset-management firm.

A structured product (also called a structured note) is an investment product that combines a debt issuance with embedded derivatives to create customized payoff profiles. Structured products may have coupon interest and/or principal repayment dependent on the value or return of one or more assets.

The Morningstar Category™ classifications for 529 investment options were introduced in 2010 to help investors make meaningful comparisons between 529 options.

This paper outlines category classifications for portfolios available for sale in the United States.

Methodology Definitions for U.S. Institutional Categories

Questions and answers for this methodology, which provides information about the currency exposure of the assets and liabilities in which a portfolio is invested.

The grades in the Global Investor Experience Fees and Expenses study were based on responses to six questions in a fixed-response survey completed by in-house, market-expert analysts, plus other inputs determined quantitatively by leveraging Morningstar's comprehensive and extensive global database of managed products.

Morningstar leverages its vast database of mutual fund holdings to map the company-level data to portfolio holdings and calculate impact metrics at the portfolio level.

This notebook provides users with standardized measures of tracking performance and facilitates peer group comparisons.

The updated style box provides an intuitive visual representation of style that helps investors build better portfolios and monitor them more accurately.

Using the Sustainalytics ESG Impact Framework, Morningstar introduces new impact metrics to help investors evaluate a company's environmental and social impacts, as well as how these play out within an investor's portfolio.

New Zealand Classification System

In March 2004, Morningstar introduced the category classification methodology for Chinese mutual funds. Since that time, there have been significant developments in the Chinese financial market as well as an increase in both the quantity and variety of fund products.

The Morningstar Sustainability Rating is designed to support investors in evaluating the relative environmental, social, and governance risks within portfolios.

We present a wide range of analyses of empirical results from the Morningstar Portfolio Risk Scoring system.

This document explains the methodology behind Morningstar Portfolio Risk Score for evaluating portfolios and determining if they align well with the asset allocations of the Morningstar Target Allocation Indexes.

The Morningstar Rating for Funds Methodology provides the theoretical basis and calculation logic for the quantitative star rating.

A guide to the Morningstar classification system for Fixed Income, cash and cash equivalents. This methodology document addresses the Morningstar global fixed income classification.

Until now, we have been refreshing our flows models on an ad-hoc basis. Now we have implemented the fund flows model into Morningstar products so these insights can be gleaned in a live setting.

Using corporate legal filings in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, Morningstar introduces new gender diversity metrics to help investors evaluate the gender diversity breakdown of officers and boards of directors for public companies as well as portfolios.

In November 2021, Morningstar will enhance the Sustainability Rating to cover not just corporate investments held by funds but also investments in countries, such as Sovereign Debt. This FAQ document aims to answer common questions about this most recent change.

A breakdown of Morningstar Analyst Ratings methodology changes.

We share details about this feature.

This report reviews the risk-tolerance scale and the scoring algorithm of the Morningstar Risk Profiler, which uses the FinaMetrica psychometrics risk-tolerance assessment.

Methodology paper for Malaysia market

This methodology is applied to HK MPF Funds.

Australian category classification system

In March 2004, Morningstar introduced the category classification methodology for Chinese mutual funds. Since that time, there have been significant developments in the Chinese financial market as well as an increase in both the quantity and variety of fund products.

The Morningstar Globe Rating for companies is a visual representation of the Sustainalytics ESG Risk Classification that will allow investors to easily identify securities with low ESG risk.

The Globe Rating for companies is a visual representation of the Sustainalytics ESG Risk Classification that will allow investors to easily identify securities with low ESG risk.

For funds available for sale in the United States.

Morningstar Risk Decomposition Methodology

In May 2021, Morningstar will introduce several data points that will make it easier for investors to use the pillar scores.

In this updated and expanded report, we build upon our original examination of synthetic exchange-traded funds in Europe, describing how the split between physical and synthetic ETFs in Europe has evolved in the past decade, citing the causes for the fall in popularity of the synthetic structure and why investors are again expressing interest in it for exposure to mainstream US equity indexes.

Crowd Sense helps investors gain a broader picture of investment popularity and places that popularity in the context of the underlying appeal of the investment.

The Disclosure grades issued in the Global Investor Experience study were based on the answers to 30 questions in a fixed-response survey completed by in-house, country-expert analysts, plus other inputs determined quantitatively by leveraging Morningstar's comprehensive and extensive global database of managed products.