Morningstar Category

Morningstar assigns categories to all types of portfolios, such as mutual funds, variable annuities, and separate accounts. Portfolios are placed in a given category based on their average holdings statistics over the past three years. Morningstar�s editorial team also reviews and approves of all category assignments. If the portfolio is new and has no history, Morningstar estimates where it will fall before giving it a more permanent category assignment. Morningstar�s analysts review each fund�s category on a quarterly basis to account for any change in its style. When necessary, Morningstar may change a category assignment based on recent changes to the portfolio. In the United States, Morningstar supports 71 categories, which map into four broad asset classes (U.S. Stock, International Stock, Taxable Bond, and Municipal Bond).

For the Pros
How does your category review process work?