Despite a drop in revenue and an increase in staff, Morningstar's net income is on the rise. On Thursday the Chicago-based fund ratings specialists unveiled net income for the first quarter of 2009 of $25.0 million, up 7.6 percent year-over-year from $23.1 million.

At the same time, Joe Mansueto's firm saw quarterly revenue drop 6.9 percent year-over-year, from $125.4 million in Q1 2008 to $116.7 million in Q1 2009. And Mansueto staffed up in the meantime, too, increasing total head count from 2,040 on March 31, 2008 to 2,370 on March 31, 2009.

Mansueto still sounds both cautious and optimistic.

"This was a challenging quarter. Still, we believe we responded effectively to the overall market conditions and global economic weakness," stated Mansueto, chairman and CEO. "On the not-so-bright side ... as we've previously shared, the loss of two investment consulting clients and the market decline to date will create a headwind for our consulting business for the remainder of the year." 

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