Chicago's Morningstar will be utilizing two upcoming conferences to unveil a new product or service. While the company will not comment on the exact nature of the news, most signs point towards the rollout of its new advice service.

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In early August, following the announcement of a $91 million investment in the company by Japan's Softbank, Morningstar announced plans to launch an advice service in the fourth quarter of 1999.

It soon also started a hiring spree to flesh out its advice staffing, hiring ex-Ibbotson chief economist Dr. Paul Kaplan as director of a new research center -- following that with the hire of Sebastian Mitchell, formerly of Vanguard, to provide "education and other services" for financial clients.

Jim Wironen, vice president of retirement services at Morningstar will be speaking at the Oct. 27-28 P&I/IBF Defined Contribution/401k Conference in San Francisco, Morningstar has confirmed that Wironen will be announcing the launch of a new product. Morningstar will also have a presence at Charles Schwab's Impact '99 conference the following week.

The implications for the this move are several -- with the bulging bank account from Softbank burning a hole in its pockets, Morningstar has raised more capital than the two most-publicized advice start-ups, Financial Engines and 401k Forum. It has also recently dedicated a large sum to brand-building, combining its two websites into one and hiring outside advertising firms as well as its first outside PR firm.

The Morningstar brand has significant impact in the industry, so jumping into the advice business makes some sense; it creates an advice start-up that in most ways is not a start-up. Moreover, the heavy use of its other products by financial advisors could be leveraged to make inroads into the intermediary advice market eventually, a market that the other advice providers are virtually ignoring.

Will Morningstar succeed in this ever-more crowded market? Only time will tell, but it does look ready to enter the fray headfirst and make life much more interesting for the players already on the field. 

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