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July 2008
Release Notes |
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Recap of Previous
Announcements |
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Morningstar
News |
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Release Notes
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Licensed Data Release Schedule: Data Feeds and
Morningstar� Essentials |
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Licensed Data Release Schedule |
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Introducing Morningstar Market Intelligence |
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Morningstar Market Intelligence is a Web-based tool that offers comprehensive, timely data views of assets under management, estimated net flow, and market share data for U.S. open-end funds, U.S. money market funds, global ETFs, and global hedge funds. It is meant to complement the analysis available in Morningstar Direct and can help you answer such questions as:
•What distribution channels are fixed-income assets flowing into?
•Which Categories attracted the most assets last month?
•Has my biggest competitor�s market share increased over the past year?
If you are a Morningstar Direct subscriber and are interested in becoming a beta tester, please contact sylvester.flood@morningstar.com or your sales director. |
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Morningstar Fixed Income Style Box—Methodology Change Planned for Sept. 30, 2008 |
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For September month-end, Morningstar will be revising the static duration figures used for placing taxable bond funds in the fixed income style box. The new system will �move with the market� by using flexible duration breakpoints based on Morningstar�s Core Bond Index. The goal of the change is to prevent funds from moving between short and intermediate when market conditions are driving the change, not portfolio holdings.
Additional information, including a methodology document, will be made available in upcoming Release Notes. |
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Morningstar Solution for New Variable Annuity Rule (FINRA Rule 2821) |
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In order to help our clients implement the conditions of the Variable Annuity Rule (aka FINRA Rule 2821), Morningstar has developed a suite of data feeds designed to streamline the process of reviewing suitability of annuity transactions. Morningstar maintains best- in- breed coverage of variable annuities, tracking nearly 1,500 contracts and more than 70,000 subaccounts, including more than 700 closed and previously sold versions of contracts.
The depth and breadth of the Morningstar Variable Annuity database is uniquely suited to help our clients analyze and document variable annuity exchanges, a key focus area of Rule 2821. Our data feeds track death and living benefit types, fees, and election and age limitations; contract purchase requirements; withdrawal and transfer restrictions; mortality and expense, administrative, and distribution fees; and many other contract and subaccount level data points.
Data is posted to Morningstar�s FTP site monthly or daily on demand in an easy to read XML format. For additional information, please contact your Morningstar Data Relationship Manager |
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Glide Path Data Available Now |
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We are pleased to announce the addition of glide path data for target date U.S. mutual funds. Available in raw data or graphic images, this data can fuel retirement solutions for your clients. Collected from the prospectus, the asset allocation breakdowns are at five-year increments. The data reflects asset allocation breakdowns, including leading up to retirement, retirement, and after retirement. 20 different asset allocation types are available for glide path data, including Morningstar's five standard asset allocation breakdowns, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), and commodities. For more information please contact your Morningstar Relationship Manager. |
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Introducing Morningstar Excel Plug-In |
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Morningstar is pleased to invite Morningstar Direct users to test a new application we�re developing. Morningstar Excel Plug-In was designed in response to client feedback, and provides the specialized Microsoft Excel calculation capabilities to complement your use of Morningstar Direct. For your convenience, we have created six initial templates based on common client tasks and will be adding new templates in the coming months. Each historical time series can be linked to a saved search or investment list created in Morningstar Direct to quickly and efficiently populate Excel with daily prices, returns, growth indexes and more. Please note that access to the Excel Plug-In requires a Morningstar Direct subscription.
If you are interested in accessing the Morningstar Excel Plug-In, please email MorningstarDirect@morningstar.com or call +1 866 229-0216. |
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Morningstar Index Team Publications |
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Morningstar�s index team has many resources available that provide concise, in-depth analysis and data on market trends as seen through Morningstar's style, sector, bond, and commodity indexes. These free market commentaries are conveniently delivered to your inbox. Click here and click on "Request Market Commentary" to start your subscription. |
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Morningstar Second Quarter Market Commentary |
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Morningstar�s index team second quarter commentary is now available. Click here to access. |
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Morningstar Indexes 2008 Now Available |
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This annual publication, which highlights of some of our research related to indexes and new product initiatives, is available here. |
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Morningstar Category Classifications Methodology Document |
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In support of the rollout of our new categories and broad asset class (see Recap below), Morningstar has updated our classification methodology document. This document, along with all methodology documentation, can be found here on our corporate web site. If you have any questions, please contact your Relationship Manager. |
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Recap of Previous Announcements
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Morningstar Data Warehouse Feed Enhancements |
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The Morningstar Licensed Data team is excited to announce an enhanced Data Warehouse 3.3 data feed. The enhancements include numerous hedge fund data point additions, additional ETF indicators, standardized VA subaccounts returns to meet compliance requirements, super muni sector data points, statement of additional information, and additional international data points. DataWarehouse 3.3 is currently available for testing and will go live in September with August ending data.
Please contact your Relationship Manager for more information. |
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Morningstar Direct 3.4 Is Here |
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We released the newest version of Morningstar Direct - Version 3.4 on May 15. This latest version introduces new functionality, enhanced usability and additional data and coverage. Research obsolete securities that have merged or liquidated. Streamline your workflow and improve the usability of your regular and ad hoc reports with the new Performance Reporting capability. Experience enhanced performance for faster opening of fund universes, running searches, and generating Aggregates/Custom Fund reports - additional improvement will be included in future releases. Click here to a view more highlights in Morningstar Direct 3.4. |
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New Morningstar Global Bond Indexes |
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The Morningstar Index team has introduced a new series of global bond indexes. This series of 11 indexes offers a useful set of benchmarks covering both developed and emerging bond markets. The former include indexes covering sovereign bond debt issued in seven non-U.S. currencies. The latter are represented by a composite index that breaks down into benchmarks of emerging markets sovereign and emerging markets corporate bond debt, all originally issued in U.S. dollars. Index data are available denominated in both price return and total return. Indexes focusing on the local-currency bonds of developed markets are also available reflecting local market returns that have been hedged in U.S. dollars, and local market returns reflecting currency conversion to U.S. dollars with no hedging; all are included in Morningstar products. For more information, please visit http://indexes.morningstar.com or contact Morningstar Indexes at indexes@morningstar.com or 312-384-3735. |
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New Categories Global Real Estate and Currency, effective July 31, 2008 |
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For July month-end we will be introducing two new Morningstar Categories, Global Real Estate and Currency. These new categories will be available for all universes with the exception of hedge funds. This change only applies to portfolios domiciled in the United States. Licensed Data test files will be available in May. |
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Global Real Estate (GR) |
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Global real estate portfolios invest primarily in non-U.S. real estate securities, but may also invest in U.S. real estate securities. These portfolios purchase debt and equity securities, convertible securities, and securities issued by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) and REIT-like entities. Portfolios in this category also invest in real estate operating companies. |
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Currency (code: CR) |
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Currency portfolios invest in U.S. and foreign currencies through the use of short- term money market instruments; derivative instruments, including and not limited to, forward currency contracts, index swaps and options, and cash deposits. |
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New Broad Asset Class, effective July 31, 2008 |
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For July month-end we will be introducing a new broad asset class called "Alternative" and the primary index assigned to it is the ML USD LIBOR 3 Mon CM. This new broad asset class will contain the following five categories:
Currency
Long-Short
Bear Market
Precious Metals
Market Neutral |
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Revisions to Secondary Benchmarks for Morningstar Categories, effective July 31, 2008 |
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Effective July 31, 2008, we will make some revisions to the secondary benchmark for the following Morningstar categories:
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| Morningstar Category |
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Old Secondary Index |
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New Secondary Index |
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| Foreign Large Value, FV |
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MSCI World Ex US NR USD |
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MSCI EAFE Value NR USD |
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| Foreign Large Blend, FB |
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MSCI World Ex US NR USD |
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MSCI AC World Ex USA NR USD |
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| Foreign Large Growth, FG |
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MSCI World Ex US NR USD |
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MSCI EAFE Growth NR USD |
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| Pacific/Asia ex-Japan Stk, PJ |
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MSCI AC Far East Ex Japan USD |
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MSCI AC Far East Ex Japan NR USD |
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| High Yield Bond, HY |
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Credit Suisse HY |
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ML US HY Master II |
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| Long-Short, LO |
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Russell 3000 |
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S&P 500 TR |
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| Bear Market, BM |
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Russell 3000 |
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S&P 500 TR |
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Obsolete Category - Muni Florida, effective July 31, 2008 |
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Effective, July 31, 2008, the Muni Florida category will be closed and all Muni Florida funds in that category will be moved to one of the Muni Single State categories (Long, Intermediate or Short). Placement in either the Long, Intermediate or Short category will be based on a three-year average of duration and maturity statistics. |
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Morningstar News
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Morningstar, Inc. to Announce Second-Quarter 2008 Financial Results on July 31 |
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June 30, 2008�Morningstar will report its second-quarter 2008 financial results after the market closes on Thursday, July 31, 2008. The company does not hold analyst conference calls; however, investors may submit written questions to Morningstar at investors@morningstar.com.
Press Release |
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Morningstar at Industry Shows |
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| Morningstar will exhibit at the following conferences. We hope to see you there. |
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PSCA, Profit Sharing/401k Council of America National Conference—September 16 - 19, 2008 Nashville, TN in the Gaylord Opryland Resort Hotel & Convention Center. |
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Data Questions |
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Contact your account team or our data quality department:
North America
E-mail: dataquestions@morningstar.com
Phone: +1 312-696-6600
Fax: +1 312-696-6019
Mailing address:
Data Questions
Morningstar, Inc.
225 West Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60606
USA
Europe
E-mail: dataquestions.uk@morningstar.com
Phone: +44 20 3107 0070
Fax: +44 20 3107 0001
Mailing address:
Data Question
Morningstar Europe
1 Oliver's Yard,
55-71 City Road, London EC1Y 1HQ
United Kingdom |
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�2008 Morningstar. All rights reserved. |
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This e-mail contains privileged and confidential information and is intended only for the use of the recipient. Any dissemination, distribution, or duplication of this communication without prior written consent from Morningstar is strictly prohibited. If you received this message in error please contact the sender immediately and delete the materials from any computer. You are receiving this e-mail because you are a Morningstar Data client, or because you asked that your name be added to the distribution list. If you wish to remove yourself from our institutional client communication list, please hit reply with "unsubscribe" in the subject line. If you would like to opt-in to this e-mail list please hit reply and include your full name, title, company name and address. We will be happy to add you to the list. The newsletter is free, and we never release these e-mail addresses to third parties. If you change your mind and no longer wish to receive this e-mail, we will quickly remove your name from the distribution list. |
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