Maciej Kowara

More From Maciej Kowara

Why Bond Funds Benefit From Active Management

Plus, how to find a fairly priced bond fund.

Eric Jacobson Mar 27, 2026

Bond Funds That Have Offered Some Inflation Protection

A look back at 10 years of bond funds’ real returns shows that some have done a decent job at beating inflation.

Maciej Kowara Mar 19, 2026

Long-Term Fund Success Begins With the Parent Firm

Morningstar Parent ratings show what sets the best asset managers apart.

Alyssa Stankiewicz Feb 23, 2026

How Vanguard Stacks Up Against Its Fund Industry Peers

Where the low-cost powerhouse ranks versus other top asset managers by size, ratings, and manager ownership.

Alyssa Stankiewicz Oct 22, 2025

Culture Matters: Putting Fundholders First Drives Success

Morningstar research highlights key attributes of successful fund families.

Alyssa Stankiewicz Sep 16, 2025

At Vanguard, a Tale of Two Volatilities

These two Vanguard bond funds dramatize the trade-off between income and price stability.

Maciej Kowara Mar 12, 2025

The Bond Market Faces 4 Big Risks

Lessons from the worst US bond market in modern history on its one-year anniversary.

Alec Lucas Oct 31, 2024

Which Funds Are Contrarian?

A position-by-position approach that compares a portfolio’s holdings with those of category peers.

Maciej Kowara Sep 11, 2024

How to Get the Most Out of Your Bond Investments

The fixed-income side of your 60/40 portfolio may need an overhaul.

Alec Lucas Feb 23, 2024

How to Invest Better With Bonds

Sharpening your fixed-income portfolio allocations can improve results.

Alec Lucas Oct 30, 2023

When Bond Prices Are a Matter of Opinion

A look at how different firms price the same bonds, including corporate bonds, Treasury bonds, and more.

Eric Jacobson Jan 20, 2021

In the Absence of Inflation, Some Real Assets Are Down but Certainly Not Out

Real assets are often thought of as an inflation hedge, but their diversification benefits are a plus, too.

Bobby Blue Sep 18, 2020

Where Are the Liquid Alternative Shareholders’ Yachts?

Since March 2009, investors have collectively paid $1 billion more in fees to liquid alternative mutual funds than what they’ve gained in return.

Jason Kephart Aug 12, 2020

Topsy-Turvy: How to React if Your Fund’s Rankings Went Upside Down This Quarter

Will the bear market keep pawing at your long-term returns?

Josh Charlson May 4, 2020

Value and Momentum Fall Out of Favor, but for How Long?

Here's a look at some strategies that combine the two factors and how they have fared.

Linda Abu Mushrefova Mar 24, 2020

A Hint of Spring in Liquid Alts' Recent Performance

The performance of liquid alternatives has shown some marginal improvement over the last three years.

Jason Kephart Jun 4, 2019

3 Great Funds Taking a Beating This Year

Katie Rushkewicz Reichart Dec 10, 2018

What If? The Liquid Alternatives Edition

We address some questions about our recent study on liquid alternatives’ performance.

Jason Kephart Sep 27, 2018

How Long Can a Good Fund Underperform?

We give an in-depth look at how we determined that winning managers trail their benchmark for a decade on average.

Maciej Kowara Aug 17, 2018

Liquid Alternatives Have Yet to Prove They Belong in Portfolios

A framework for evaluating the diversification benefits an alternative mutual fund might confer to a traditional portfolio.

Jason Kephart Aug 14, 2018

It's Hard to Find a Serious Weakness in This Bond Fund

We’ve upgraded Western Asset Core Bond's Analyst Rating to Gold, thanks to its improved Parent rating, outstanding fixed-income staff and resources, and fine long-term performance.

Maciej Kowara Dec 16, 2017

Active-Fund Investors Spread Their Bets

Data point to increasing diffusion of assets across active U.S. stock funds, which could theoretically make the market more efficient.

Maciej Kowara Sep 14, 2017

20 Years In, Have TIPS Delivered?

TIPS have performed well as insurance against inflation, but they haven’t proven themselves as an investment vehicle.

Maciej Kowara Apr 11, 2017

Active Bond Funds Holding Their Own

The latest update to the Morningstar active/passive barometer reveals that actively managed bond funds are much more likely to beat their benchmarks than equity funds.

Maciej Kowara Mar 21, 2017

Will Rising Bond Yields Sink High-Dividend Stocks?

Conventional wisdom holds that higher rates will hurt stocks with high dividend yields, but we find the supporting evidence rather weak.

Maciej Kowara Feb 16, 2017

Bond Fund Duration May Overstate Rate Sensitivity

Over the last year, we found that bond funds were less sensitive to rates than their reported durations would suggest.

Maciej Kowara Jan 5, 2017

Maciej Kowara is a principal, fixed-income strategies, for Morningstar. He covers funds and acts as a quantitative resource, in addition to active participation in thought leadership.

Before joining Morningstar in 2016, Maciej Kowara worked in a variety of roles, both at Morningstar and outside, which involved fund and industry analysis, portfolio management, thought leadership, and quantitative research.

Kowara holds a bachelor’s degree in classics/philosophy from the University of Toronto. He also holds a Ph.D. in classics from Harvard University.