Morningstar is adding yet another type of asset management product to the list of things it examines and rates. Yesterday the Chicago-based mutual fund ratings firm revealed that it will launch ratings and research later this year of managed portfolios of ETFs. That will include a classification system, proprietary to Morningstar, for such portfolios.

AdvisorOne, Crain's Chicago Business, Dow Jones, ETF Trends, InvestmentNews, OnWallStreet, Pensions & Investments and Reuters all covered the news.

The portfolios will be ranked by performance against the others in their group. The classification system will divide the portfolios based on four attributes: universe, asset breadth, portfolio implementation and primary ETF exposure type.

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Company Press Release

CHICAGO, Sept. 22, 2011—Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, plans to launch rankings and research on exchange-traded fund (ETF) managed portfolios later this year. Morningstar made the announcement at its second annual ETF Invest Conference in Chicago.

ETF managed portfolios are primarily separate account strategies that have more than 50 percent of a portfolio’s assets in ETFs. Of the more than 330 ETF managed portfolios with about $22 billion in assets currently tracked by Morningstar, approximately 30 percent were launched within the past three years and the number continues to increase.

“ETF managed portfolios are a burgeoning area. By expanding the research available for ETF managed portfolios, we aim to increase the awareness and transparency of this rapidly growing area of the industry,” said Andrew Gogerty, ETF managed portfolios strategist for Morningstar. “These strategies typically offer greater tactical flexibility than a traditional individual security separate account strategy, but no other firm is providing commentary, research, and education for advisors in this area. Our goal is to develop a suite of analytics and commentary that will help advisors and other investors who are sifting through these investment options.”

Morningstar is also creating a new, proprietary classification system for ETF managed portfolios, which advisors can use to screen offerings based on the portfolio’s strategy attributes to make meaningful comparisons. More information about our classification system is available at http://global.morningstar.com/ETFManagedPortfoliosClassification. More information about our rankings and research for ETF managed portfolios is available at http://global.morningstar.com/ETFManagedPortfoliosFactSheet. 



Morningstar will rank ETF managed portfolios by performance against their peers within their classification grouping. The classifications for ETF managed portfolios differ from the Morningstar Category™ Classifications, which are applied to mutual funds, variable annuities, and separate accounts based on the underlying securities in each portfolio.

Morningstar plans to make the ETF managed portfolios rankings and research available through its advisor and institutional products, including Morningstar® Advisor WorkstationSM, Morningstar OfficeSM, and Morningstar DirectSM. Selected content from the ETF managed portfolios database will also be available on Morningstar.com in early 2012.

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 approximately 400,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 5 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 more than $180 billion in assets under advisement and management as of June 30, 2011. The company has operations in 26 countries. 

Edited by: Neil Anderson, Managing Editor


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