Name Change
With this release, Morningstar Advisor Workstation Office Edition is being renamed Morningstar Office.
Practice Redesign
Practice tools reorganized
The Practice tab has been replaced by three tabs: Client Management, Portfolio Management, and Investment Planning. The tabs are broken out as follows:
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Client Management |
Portfolio Management |
Investment Planning |
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Clients |
Accounts |
Plans |
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Prospects |
Account Performance |
Model Portfolios |
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Billings |
Groups |
Asset Allocations |
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Activities |
Composites |
Market Assumptions |
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Alerts |
Billings |
Saved Reports |
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Mail Merges |
Securities in Accounts |
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Saved Reports |
Alerts |
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Activities |
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Saved Reports |
Securities in Accounts
The Securities in Practice page has been renamed Securities in Accounts. This feature appears under the new Portfolio Management tab.
Portfolio Accounting
Time-Weighted Return Methodology Change
In order to comply with the Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS) for 2010, we are changing our TWR calculation methodology from the Modified Dietz Method to the Daily Valuation Method. Click here to read more about the calculation.
Enhanced Composite Tracking
You can now include a membership start date when adding an account to a composite, or a membership end date when removing an account from a composite. You can specify an inception date when creating a new composite. For existing composites, you can edit the inception date on the new Membership History page of the composite record.
Enter transactions options
Previously, transactions had to be entered by share or by amount. With this release, you have the option of entering transactions by share and price, by amount and price, or by share and amount.
Adjust Cost transaction type
Use the new Adjust Cost transaction type to adjust the total cost of a lot by a dollar amount or as a percentage. This is more accurate than changing the cost of the original transaction. To adjust a cost down, enter the positive amount or percentage by which the cost is changing. To adjust a cost up, enter a negative amount or percentage.
Sell shares to pay expense/fees transaction type
Two new transaction types - Sell to Pay Fees and Sell to Pay Expense - allow you to sell shares in order to pay fees or expenses.
Duplicate transaction
Right-click on any transaction and select Duplicate Transaction to open an identical transaction in a new window opens. You can then make the desired changes and post as a new transaction to the account.
Preferred Stock and UIT security types added to Definition Master
In accordance with the additions to the Research universe, Preferred Stock and Unit Investment Trust are now available as security types in the Definition Master.
View Unrealized Gain/Loss by Lot
In the Holdings Summary for Transactional Accounts, you can select Gain/Loss-Unrealized by Lot from the View menu.
Total Amount box added to Quick Account Holdings Entry
For Quick Accounts, a Total Amount box, which displays the sum of all stock/fund, bond, and cash holdings in the account, has been added to the upper right hand corner of the Holdings Entry window.
Option to remove secondary and tertiary benchmarks
You can now select None as the secondary and/or tertiary benchmark for an account in Profile/Settings > Account Setup or Tools > Setting Assignments > Account Settings.
Client Default Settings page added to Client Profile
You can now access client default settings from within the client record.
Corporate Account categories and types added
Corporation Taxable and Corporation Non-Taxable appear on the Account Setup page in the Account Type and Account Category drop-down menus.
Portfolio Reporting
Account-level reports available at the Client level
You can generate account-level reports for multiple accounts from the client record window. Select the account(s) on which you want to run a report, then click on the Reports menu or Action > Reports.
Practice-level X-Ray Report
You can run an X-Ray Report on your entire practice from the universal Reports menu. On the universal toolbar, go to Reports > Analytical Reports > X-Ray.
Exclude from Client Reporting
On the Account Setup page, you can check the Exclude from Client Reporting box to prevent the account from being included in client aggregate reporting.
Report Generator
Available from the global Reports menu, Report Generator allows you to generate reports for an account (or multiple accounts for one client) without having to open the client or account(s).
Aggregate/Segregate option added to Schedules
Aggregate Clients and Segregate Accounts check boxes have been added to the Targets tab of the Schedules window.
New Account Statement options
You can now de-select subsections that you do not want to appear on the Account Statement. If you are printing a double-sided report, you can elect to add a blank second page to the report.
Redesigned Reports
The following reports have been revised for improved layout and usability:
Snapshot Report
Benchmark Comparison
Realized Gain/Loss
Unrealized Gain/Loss
Account Statement, and
Global Money Balance.
Global Trade Activities Report
You can now run this report at the practice level from the universal Reports menu.
Suppress Cost and G/L on Client Position Summary
You can now check a box in the Report Options dialog to remove cost and gain/loss from the Client Position Summary.
Excel Table option added for some reports
For the Trade Activities, Global Money Balance, List of Accounts, and Assets Under Management Reports, Excel Table appears as an option on the Report Type drop-down menu. If you select Excel Table, the report data will be exported to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.
Error message/security warnings in text file
If an error message or security warning is triggered during the generation of a report, you will be asked if you want to view the message as a .txt file. This will allow you to save the message to your computer for future reference.
Report Folders
On the Reports tab, you can create folders by right-clicking on the Reports page and selecting New Folder. You can then assign saved reports to different folders.
Save multiple reports locally at once
You can save multiple reports to your computer by selecting the reports you want to save and clicking the Save Selected Report to Desktop icon on the toolbar.
Billings
Management Fee settings by security types
You can create management fees for specific security types. Go to Home > Settings > Management Fees and select Security Type from the Billing By drop-down. You can then specify which security types should be billed at what rate.
Firm Fee column added to Management Fee Settings
You can specify firm fees and advisor fees when creating management fee settings.
Credit Commissions and Other Fees added to Management Fees
An Adjustments section with two options - Rebate Transaction Commissions and Rebate Transaction "Other" Fee - has been added to the Management Fee Setting dialog. The rebates are automatically deducted from the management fee.
Actual/Actual option added to Management Fees
When prorating, each time period (year, month, quarter, etc.) is assumed to contain the same number of days. The Actual/Actual bill rate methodology option allows you to prorate based on the exact number of days in the given time period.
Manual adjustment added for Groups/Accounts
When creating a new adjustment from the Billings page, you can now assign the adjustment to a group or account.
Fee file available in TD Ameritrade format
TDA is now available from the Fee File Format menu. Go to Client Management > Billings > Custodian Fee File.
Investment Planning
Generate Planning Reports in Word
You can select whether to generate the Investment Policy Statement, Investment Recommendation, or Custom Report in PDF or Word format. Requires Microsoft Word 2007.
Multiple Contributions per Account
On the Account Contributions page, you can now specify multiple contributions for each account in the plan.
Ignore fund minimums on the Allocate page
You can opt to ignore minimum investment amounts to funds during the allocate process.
View allocation for all accounts when allocating by account
If you choose to allocate to separate accounts, you can now view the asset allocation of the aggregate (all accounts in the plan combined.) Previously, after allocating separately, the allocations were lost if you switched to the aggregate view.
Liquidated holdings included in Securities List
A new check box labeled “Include liquidated holdings in Securities List by default” has been added to the Planning Settings dialog box. This check box will be checked by default. When checked, your liquidated holdings will be included by default in the Securities List page of the Plan window. When unchecked, the liquidated holdings will not be included. This change will affect new plans only, not existing plans.
Workspace
Convert Model Portfolios into Custom Benchmarks
You can convert a model portfolio directly into a custom benchmark by selecting a model portfolio and selecting Action > Utilities > Convert to Benchmark. You can copy the portfolio first to preserve it as a model.
Merge Model Portfolios
You can merge two model portfolios by selecting the model portfolios and selecting Action > Merge Model Portfolio. The source model portfolio becomes part of the target model portfolio, so you can copy the source model portfolio first if you do not wish to lose it.
Model Portfolios and Asset Allocations separated in Workspace/Investment Planning
Rather than both appearing on the Models page, Model Portfolios and Model Asset Allocations now appear on their own pages. They are accessible from the Investment Planning and Workspace tabs.
Account Performance
Transactional Calculations
A new data point universe has been added to the Supplementary Columns window in Account Performance. The Transaction Based Data universe provides transactional performance calculations at the security level.
Grid Formatting
You can select Simple or Conditional Formatting from the Action menu or by right-clicking in the Account Performance grid. Simple formatting allows you to highlight rows in different colors, while conditional formatting allows you to highlight fields that match certain criteria.
Import
Accounts blotter navigation
The Accounts blotter is now divided into New Accounts and Existing Accounts. Previously, there was a drop-down menu. Now there is a left-hand navigation with tabs.
Securities blotter navigation
The Securities blotter is now divided into three categories:
Morningstar tracked securities
New user defined securities, and
Existing user defined securities.
Reconciliation blotter navigation/New Reconcile button
The Reconciliation blotter is now divided into three categories:
All
Reconciled, and
Failed.
Also, note that you can no longer click on the Reconciliation blotter to refresh. You must click the new Reconciliation button.
Edit transactions from Transaction blotter
You can now right-click a transaction in the Transaction blotter to open the Transaction Wizard.
Import prices in positional report
Price history will be populated in the Price blotter for a positional import. After posting, the prices will be stored in the security's price history in the Definition Master.
Preferred Stocks and UITs supported in import
Morningstar Office will now recognize Preferred Stocks and Unit Investment Trusts and will map them to securities in our database rather than creating user-defined securities.
CRM
Launch Web Portal from Tools menu
You can now access the Client Web Portal from the global Tools menu. Go to Tools > Launch Web Portal.
Morningstar logo removed from Web Portal login page
The Morningstar logo no longer appears on the login page of the Client Web Portal.
Password options added to Web Portal setup
When you are setting up the Client Web Portal, you can now set a default password or create a custom password for each client. This password will be included with the link to the portal in the initial email the client receives.
CC: list added to Web Portal setup
You can specify multiple emails to include in Web Portal notifications. You can enter up to 500 characters, with email addresses separated by commas.
Option to disable notifications
If you do not want a client to be automatically notified when a report is posted, you can disable this feature by checking the new Disable Automatic Notification Email box in Client Web Portal Settings.
Research
Investment Comparison Report
The Investment Comparison Report compares the performance, style, asset allocation, risk, expenses, and taxes of up to four securities. This report can be run across security universes by selecting investments from an Investment List. You can also run the report from a Research universe. Go to Action > Reports > Comparison: Multiple Investments.
Target-Date Fund Series Reports
Reports on target date funds are available for US mutual funds. Right-click a target fund and select Reports > Target Series Report.
Preferred Stock and UIT Universes added to Research
Preferred Stocks and Unit Investment Trusts will be available on the Research tab.
Reset Universe
After narrowing a research universe by performing a search, you can reset the universe to display all securities by selecting Action > Utilities > Reset Universe.
Search Fund Manager History
In the funds universe, you can select the new Manager History data point, select the name of the manager, and run the search to display all the funds that person has managed.
Data Point Settings
For each data point, you can adjust settings such as the number of decimal places and currency. Click Edit View, select a data point, then click Settings.
Chart Enhancements
Updated versions will be available for all charts except Value at Risk. The charts have been enhanced as follows:
Growth: Display accounts, investments, and model portfolios on the same chart; include data table below the chart; display dividends and ratings; display market returns, total returns, bid-offer returns, or gross returns; set return type at the chart level or the individual investment level; add benchmarks of common types without looking them up.
Price: Display dividends and ratings; data table below chart; display market price, NAV, bid price, or offer price; set price type at the chart level or the investment level.
Rolling Return (Line): New chart; new connected-points style accommodates multiple funds; display excess returns; data table below chart; export to Excel.
Return Bar: New chart; display annual or trailing returns; use market return, total return, offer-bid return, or gross return; data table below chart; add benchmarks of common types without looking them up.
Return vs. Category: New floating bar format to improve readability; choose peer group; display annual or trailing returns; data table with percentiles below chart.
Returns Correlation: Correlation in bull or bear markets; one-sided matrix improves readability.
Risk/Reward: Choose a benchmark for the crosshairs; data table below chart; use symbols for investments.
Home
Sections Added to Home page
Three new sections - Education, Mutual Fund Commentary, and Third Party Commentary - can be added to your Home Page.
Customize your Articles+Commentary page
You can now click a new Edit button on the Articles+Commentary page and add or remove sections.
Price Monitor tab removed
The Price Monitor no longer appears in the left-hand navigation. You can still access the Price Monitor from the Price Monitor icon on the universal toolbar.