Fund Family 150 Highlights–Q4 2019

The Morningstar Fund Family 150 is a semiannual publication that gives you access to the same analytical rigor our own analysts use to keep tabs on the 150 largest fund families in the United States.

Morningstar Research Services | Feb 22, 2019

Morningstar Direct U.S. Asset Flows Update–January 2019

Conduct competitive analysis, develop new products, and market managed investments using our comprehensive estimated asset flow and updated market share data.

Kevin McDevitt | Feb 20, 2019

Sustainable Funds U.S. Landscape Report

In our annual Landscape Report, Morningstar’s ESG research team examines the growth, performance, and changing nature of this emerging fund group.

Jon Hale | Feb 11, 2019

The Proxy Process: Raising the Investor Voice to Address New Risks

As the 2019 U.S. proxy season approaches, there’s a new wave of interest in proxy voting and stewardship. We look at how shareholder resolutions offer insightful perspective on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) risks.

Morningstar Manager Research | Feb 08, 2019

Quantitative Analytics Quarterly: A New Way to Identify Competitors

In this report, we introduce Morningstar Equity Comparables, a new data point that indicates the level of similarity between companies using a machine-based learning approach.

Taylor Hess | Feb 07, 2019

Morningstar’s European Active/Passive Barometer–February 2019

The Morningstar European Active/Passive Barometer is a semiannual report that measures the performance of European active managers against their passive peers within their respective categories.

Dimitar Boyadzhiev | Feb 07, 2019

Morningstar’s Active/Passive Barometer–February 2019

The Morningstar Active/Passive Barometer is a semiannual report that measures the performance of U.S. active managers against their passive peers within their respective categories.

Ben Johnson, Adam McCullough | Feb 07, 2019

2018 Global Fund Flows Report

Our annual report analyzes the flows that investors placed in global open-end funds and exchange-traded products. We look at what these trends reveal about investor preferences and behavior.

Kevin McDevitt | Feb 06, 2019

Preparing for a Low Carbon Economy

The Morningstar® Low Carbon Risk Index Family^SM provides diversified exposure to equities across regions, emphasizing companies that are aligned with the transition to the low-carbon economy. The indexes go beyond carbon footprinting, which reflects current emissions and represents just a starting point in an analysis of carbon risk.

Jon Hale, Dan Lefkovitz | Jan 30, 2019

Morningstar Markets Observer–Q4 2018 Data

Get timely macroeconomic and market data you can use with clients to discuss trends, set appropriate risk and return expectations, and explain investor behavior in this quarterly collection of charts and analysis.

Timothy Strauts, Alina Lamy | Jan 24, 2019

Morningstar U.S. Prospects–December 2018

Discover up-and-coming or under-the-radar strategies in a quarterly list that our manager research analysts think may be worthy of full coverage in the future.

Christopher Franz | Jan 22, 2019

Morningstar Direct European Asset Flows Update–November 2018

Conduct competitive analysis, develop new products, and market managed investments using our comprehensive estimated asset flow and updated market share data.

Valerio Baselli and Ali Masarwah | Dec 20, 2018

Securities Lending: An Examination of the Risks and Rewards

Securities-lending programs' contribution to performance and potential to differentiate increasingly commoditized funds have come into sharper focus. In this paper, we explain why we believe the benefits of securities lending to fundholders outweigh the risks.

Adam McCullough | Dec 12, 2018

Brexit: A Morningstar View

This report on Brexit compiles key insights from Morningstar. We examine the impact of possible Brexit outcomes on investors and what investors should do now.

Emma Wall | Dec 10, 2018

Your KID’s First-Term Report

This paper examines the requirements of Key Information Documents (KIDs) and makes focused recommendations on how they could be improved.

Andy Pettit | Nov 22, 2018

Conflicts of Interest in Mutual Fund Sales

In this paper, we examine data from the SEC and Morningstar to quantify how payments to brokers drive fund flows and affect investor returns, and to determine the extent to which regulation has been effective in mitigating conflicts of interest.

Jasmin Sethi, Jake Spiegel, Aron Szapiro | Nov 15, 2018

The Health Savings Account Landscape–2018

Investors have few resources available to help them compare the hundreds of health savings account providers that exist. To provide a comprehensive resource about HSAs for investors, we evaluated 10 of the largest HSA providers.

Leo Acheson | Nov 12, 2018

Quantitative Analytics Quarterly: 3 Ways to Skin a Scenario

Scenario analysis is an essential tool for managing long-term expectations and exploring shorter-term volatility. We run a market event through our scenario analysis tools to examine the impact of user-defined constraints on portfolio returns.

Chau Pham, Michael O'Leary | Oct 25, 2018

The Effects of the Retail Distribution Review on Fund Fees in the UK

We look at the impact the RDR has had on open-end fund fees against the backdrop of the rise of passive investing, using a sample of funds that encompass the most commonly sought market exposures, from the viewpoint of a UK investor.

Jackie Beard | Oct 15, 2018

A Framework for Evaluating Strategic-Beta Bond Funds

Evaluate approaches to the portfolio construction processes for strategic-beta fixed-income funds using our framework.

Alex Bryan, Jose Garcia-Zarate | Oct 03, 2018

Examine the sustainability profiles of Morningstar’s 46 equity market indexes using company-level environmental, social, and governance scores.

Dan Lefkovitz | Oct 01, 2018

We apply the concept of Longest Underperformance Period to factor-based portfolios and show that even factor-based portfolios that outperform over the long haul can have shockingly long stretches of underperformance.

Maciej Kowara, Paul Kaplan | Sep 17, 2018

Our quantitative research team attempts to decompose investor preferences for sustainable funds by examining the relationship between monthly fund flows and three Morningstar fund-level characteristics.

Madison Sargis, Dan Kleeman | Aug 17, 2018

Robo-Advisor Upgrade! Installing a Program for Profitability: Digital Advice Raises Profits for Investment Services Industry

Robo-advisors are developing new strategies to overcome faults with their original business model. We assess robo-advisors in light of evolving business models and conclude that select-robo advisors have a viable path to profitability.

Michael Wong | Jul 05, 2018

Mind the Gap 2018, U.S.

Morningstar’s latest annual investor returns study has found that the gap between official total returns and those actually experienced by investors across all mutual funds has shrunk to 26 basis points over the 10 years that ended March 2018.

Russel Kinnel | Jun 12, 2018

Quantitative Analytics Quarterly: What Factors Drive Investment Flows?

Over the past three years, investors preferred more established funds at a higher rate than the previous period studied. Our report also shows that performance is less of a driver of flows than three years ago.

Madison Sargis, Lee Davidson | May 22, 2018

Passive Sustainable Funds: The Global Landscape

See the global landscape of passive sustainable funds and the choices available to investors. We focus on two regions that have seen the greatest adoption of index-tracking sustainable funds—Europe and the United States.

Hortense Bioy, Kenneth Lamont | May 15, 2018

Finding Bond Funds That Can Beat Their Benchmarks After Fees

Typical active fixed-income fund managers struggle to beat the fund’s benchmark after fees. We look at historical excess returns distributions for funds in 25 Morningstar fixed-income categories to learn what drives underperformance.

Mara Dobrescu, Matias Möttölä | May 08, 2018

2018 Target-Date Fund Landscape

Assets in target-date mutual funds surpassed $1 trillion in 2017. The unimpeded growth means target-date funds play an increasingly important role in the retirement success for more and more investors.

Jeff Holt | May 07, 2018

Measuring Transition Risk in Fund Portfolios: The Morningstar Portfolio Carbon Risk Score

Understanding the risks posed by climate change can help investors make better decisions. The Morningstar® Portfolio Carbon Risk Score^TM is a new metric that investors can use to evaluate carbon risk at the portfolio level. The scores can be used to compare funds with each other and with their benchmarks.

Jon Hale | May 01, 2018

Annual U.S. Fund Fee Study–2018

Our manager research analysts evaluate the cost of U.S. mutual funds and exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in Morningstar's database and identify the latest fund fee trends in this annual study.

Patricia Oey | Apr 26, 2018

How Long Can a Good Fund Underperform Its Benchmark?

Funds that outperformed their benchmarks had also trailed that benchmark for an average of nine to 12 years sometime during that period, according to our study.

Maciej Kowara, Paul Kaplan | Mar 20, 2018

Fund Managers by Gender: Through the Performance Lens

Morningstar began formally studying fund managers by gender in 2015 after observing anecdotally that women are underrepresented in the fund industry. We looked at fund managers' performance by gender to see if the results help explain why there are so few fund managers who are women.

Madison Sargis, Kathryn Wing | Mar 08, 2018

Stop Guessing: Using Participant Data to Select the Optimal QDIA

We present a framework for using participant data to help determine which type of qualified default investment alternative, or QDIA, may be most appropriate for a plan.

Tom Idzorek, David Blanchett | Jan 30, 2018

Passive Fund Providers Take an Active Approach to Investment Stewardship

To better understand the investment stewardship activities of index managers, we surveyed the largest providers of index funds and exchange-traded funds across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.

Hortense Bioy, Alex Bryan | Dec 06, 2017

Morningstar Global Fund Investor Experience Study 2017

We created the Morningstar’s Global Fund Investor Experience to encourage a dialogue about best practices for mutual funds from the perspective of fund shareholders. This year we cover 25 countries across North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa.

Anthony Serhan | Oct 09, 2017

LDI Misapplied: Income Portfolios and Liability-Driven Investing

Building efficient retirement income portfolios is complex. This paper explores the unique aspects of properly applying liability-driven investing to the creation of an asset allocation for an individual investor.

Thomas Idzorek, David Blanchett | Oct 02, 2017

The Aftermath of Fund Management Change

How does the typical fund fare after a management change, and how do investors react? Our research explores what impact management change has, if any, in a fund’s future performance.

Madison Sargis, Kai Chang | Jul 24, 2017

The Default Investment Decision: Weighing Cost and Personalization

When it comes to selecting a plan default investment, there are a number of factors to consider. Managed accounts typically come at a higher cost than target-date funds, but have the potential to deliver a higher level of personalization.

David Blanchett | Jun 07, 2017

The Fall of Funds: Why Some Funds Fail

Full fund closures can have significant negative consequences for investors. To better understand fund closures and their potential impact, we explored the factors leading to fund liquidations and mergers.

Madison Sargis, Lee Davidson | May 31, 2017

Fund Managers by Gender: The Global Landscape

Since 2015, we’ve studied where women have made progress or stepped backward within the fund industry. In this paper, we examined 26,000+ funds registered in 56 countries to learn what women are managing in financial markets globally.

Madison Sargis, Laura Pavlenko Lutton | Nov 28, 2016

Building Better Core Menus in the Age of Default Investments

With the mass adoption of default investment solutions in retirement plans, the type of investor that uses the core retirement plan menu has changed. Many participants are defaulted into solutions such as target-date funds and managed accounts.

David Blanchett, Daniel Bruns | Nov 28, 2016

The Glide Path Selection Problem: A Quantitative Approach to Assessing Glide Path Fit for DC Participants

The target-date decision has lacked consideration for glide path design, resulting in potential mismatch between the equity glide path used by the plan sponsor and the optimal glide path for the specific demographics of the plan participants.

Daniel Bruns, Lucian Marinescu | Mar 10, 2016