Portfolio Accounting
Staged Blended Benchmark
If you want to create a benchmark with historical portfolios, you can use the new Staged Blended Benchmark option when adding a new benchmark.
Composite Dispersion Report
The new Composite Dispersion Report displays the return for the best- and worst-performing portfolios in a composite. From within a composite record, select Reports > Composite Dispersion.
Post to Account option added for Distributions and Splits
Previously, there was only a Submit button when recording corporate actions. With this release, there are two options when entering distributions and splits: Save to Blotter or Post to Account.
Money Market Funds Added to Defined Contribution Plans
When adding holdings to a Defined Contribution Plan, you can now select Money Market Funds from the Add Holdings dialog box.
Fixed income style box methodology changed for US taxable-bond funds
Prior to October 2008, US taxable-bond funds with durations of 3.5 years or less were considered short-term; more than 3.5 years and less than six years, intermediate term; and more than six years, long term. Effective for October 2008, we will move from static breakpoints to flexible breakpoints. On a monthly basis we will now calculate duration breakpoints based around the effective duration of the Morningstar Core Bond Index (MCBI).
Short-Term: 25% to 75% of MCBI Intermediate: 75% to 125% of MCBI Long-Term: 125% of MCBI (no upper limit on long-term funds.)
Click here to read the methodology paper.
Custom Period added to Management Fee Setting
When creating a management fee setting, you can now select Custom Period as the payment period and select 2 or 4 months.
Set Up Minimum Amount for Trade When Rebalancing Accounts
When generating trades for rebalance by model, some trades might not be worth carrying out, as the expenses associated with the trade are more than the proceeds of the trade. A new editable data column called Minimum Lot Size has been added to the Add Holding dialog box for model portfolios. The trades generated will be compared to this data field’s value and if the size is less than this limit, the trade will not be sent to the Trade blotter.
Portfolio Reporting
Full Screen Button Added to PDF Viewer Window
When viewing a PDF report, you can now click the Full Screen button to view the report in a larger window.
Account Overview Report
The first page of Portfolio Snapshot Report is now available as a standalone report, the Account Overview. The report can be generated for the last month end, the previous month end, or the last quarter end.
Improvements to Account Summary, Formerly Account Statement
You can now specify Time Weighted Return (TWR) or Internal Rate of Return (IRR) when generating the report. The layout has also been improved.
Batch Report Message Column Added to Reports Page
If an error message is generated when a batch is run, an exclamation mark will appear in the new Batch Report Message column. To view the message, you can check the box of the report and select Action > View Batch Report Message.
Market Value Column Added to Stock Intersection Report
Market Value ($) has been added to the portfolio-level Stock Intersection PDF report.
Portfolio-Level Projected Cash Flow Report
This report shows the projected income for a portfolio for the next 12 months. It is similar to the Projected Income report found under the Fixed Income, but it also takes into account projected income from distributions.
Global Performance Summary Report Layout Improvements
The following changes have been made to the Global Performance Summary Report:
Account Number Column removed
Account Name wraps to second line if over 36 characters
"Net Flow" changed to "Net Investment"
New columns "Earned Income" and "Period Investment Gain/Loss"
IRR/TWR labels added, and
Total line added.
Global Cash Flow Report for Entire Practice
The new Global Cash Flow Report can be accessed from the Management Reports section of the global Reports menu. The report displays cash flows for all the accounts in your practice.
Total Cost Column Added to Portfolio Current Value Reports
For all three types of Portfolio Current Value Reports - by security, by security type, and by asset class - a Total Cost column has been added to the right of the Unit Cost column.
Reconciled Position As Of Date Column Added to Account List
A new column in the Accounts spreadsheet on the Portfolio Management tab displays the last date that account was reconciled.
Include/Exclude Capital Gain Distribution Option Added to Realized Gain/Loss Report
A new check box has been added to the Realized Gain/Loss Report Options dialog box that allows you to include capital gain distributions on the report.
Investment Planning
Create Plans for Clients Other Than the Primary Client
Previously, the planning module required that the primary client be included in the plan. With this change, we will support a plan for the spouse or one or more dependents.
Ability to Adjust for Fees
On the Miscellaneous page of the Investment Plan window, you can now enter an expense as a percentage of assets in order to account for a management fee.
Show MRDs in the Wealth Table
On the Wealth Table within the Forecast page, you can check the new Show MRDs check box to display minimum required distribution, the percentage of a retirement account that an individual in the U.S. is required to withdraw each year after reaching age 70.5. MRDs will appear on the Wealth Table as dollar amounts.
Market Assumptions Sharing
You can now use the "Send To" and "Share With" functions previously available in other areas of the application to send and share market assumptions. "Send To" will create an independent copy of the market assumptions for the second user. "Share With" will allow access for the second user to view or modify the first user's market assumptions. When sharing, you can choose whether or not to make shared assumptions read/write or read-only. In addition, if you created default constraints for the assumptions you are sharing, those default constraints will also be carried over to the users to whom the assumptions are shared.
Handling Negative Cash Balances
When an account with a negative cash balance is added to a plan, the asset allocation will be adjusted to reflect the negative balance.
Partial Stock Shares Eliminated from Action Plan
Because it is not possible to buy or sell partial shares of stocks or ETFs, only whole shares will be displayed in the Action Plan.
New Report Section: Action Plan by Asset Class
A new report section is available to add to planning reports. The Action Plan by Asset Class section shows the same details as the standard Action Plan report section, but will show the individual securities grouped by asset class.
Account Performance
User-Defined Row Setup
A "Use user-defined classification where applicable" check box has been added to the Row Setup tab of the General Settings dialog box in Account Performance. When this box is checked, the system will use the settings from the Definition Master where applicable. The box is checked by default.
Header and Footer Added to Excel Export
Account Name, Client Name, and Prepared by information will now be included in the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet that is generated when you calculate and export Account Performance reports.
Display Cash Position in Account
A "Display default cash" check box has been added to the General Settings dialog box. It is selected by default.
Import
Corporate Actions Wizard Enhancements
The Open End Funds, Exchange Traded Funds, Closed End Funds, User Defined Equity, and User Defined Managed Account universes have been added to the Corporate Actions Wizard.
Smarter Reconciliation based on Imported Position Files
If you import transactions that are more recent than the imported position file, you will receive an error message that any transactions after the date in the position file will be greyed out and will not be considered in that reconciliation session.
Exclude Accounts from Reconciliation
An Account Import Setting column has been added to the New Accounts sub-blotter allowing you to select which accounts to include in reconciliation. Those accounts you do not include will be listed on the new Excluded Accounts sub-blotter.
Options added to Action menu in Pending Transactions View of Reconciliation Blotter
The options on the Action menu in the Posted Transactions screen on the Reconciliation blotter will also be available on the Pending Transactions screen.
Generic Format Trade File Added
For accounts with custodians that we do not support or for accounts without a custodian, we will use a generic trade file format. The file name will be GenericTradeFile_yyyymmddrandomnumber.txt.
DST: Add Ability to Generate Annuity Interest Transactions in Reconciliation Blotter
Currently, DST does not provide fixed annuity interest reinvestment transactions on their downloaded files. A Generate Distributions button has been added to the Reconciliation blotter. Clicking the button will automatically generate distribution reinvestment transactions based on the difference between your Morningstar position and your custodian position.
CRM
Mobile Device Support for mstar.com Email Accounts
We have added a section to the Settings page where you can set a password for your mstar.com email address. This password is needed in order to set up your Morningstar Office email on a Blackberry or iPhone.
Permisson Control Roles Added
Three new options - Holding Reader, Research Analyst, and Client Reader - are now available for Morningstar Office.
Associate Imported Emails with Clients
Previously, when emails were imported from Microsoft Outlook, they were not associated with a client. You can now opt to associate the email in the To, From or CC field with a client.
Client Web Portal Usage Tracking
You can now track Client Web Portal usage with the new Client Web Portal Usage Report available at Reports > Usage Reports.
Research
Market Cap USD Data Point Added to Global Stocks Universe
You can now sort global stocks by market capitalization in US dollars.
Equity Research Profile Report
For some stocks, you can view an Equity Research Profile report by right-clicking the investment and selecting Reports > Equity Research Profile Report or selecting the investment and going to Action > Reports > Equity Research Profile Report.
Request Update Button Added to SA/CIT Universe
When viewing the SA/CIT data universe, you can now select investments and click the Request Update button on the toolbar to request a data update or a product addition.
ADV forms Available from SA/CIT Universe
You can now right-click an investment in the SA/CIT universe and select Document Library to view the ADV form.