CHICAGO, Feb. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar.com, the
popular individual investor website from Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq:
MORN), recently added a wealth of new features and tools to help
make investing more transparent and enable investors to better
track and manage their portfolios, personal finances, and
investment decisions.
"We want Morningstar.com to be not just an investment research
and data site, but rather a comprehensive financial resource for
investors at every phase of their lives," said Kunal Kapoor, president of individual software
at Morningstar. "These recent enhancements are the result of
feedback from investors and fit in perfectly with our longstanding
efforts to make Morningstar.com a more intuitive site that helps to
demystify investing, whether you're an experienced investor getting
ready to retire or a new investor just getting started with your
first 401(k) plan."
To help investors track and manage their portfolios and
investments, Morningstar.com recently expanded its Portfolio
Manager tool with a number of new advanced features.
Portfolio Manager now features new navigation functionality
to make it easier to locate securities and sort from among more
than 200 data points (including new data points such as management
fees, debt and total capitalization, pre-market and after hours
trading prices, NAV and percentage of premium/discount, and
realized gain or loss since purchase). Morningstar has doubled the
number of customized views and an Import Wizard tool streamlines
the process of importing new data into an existing portfolio. All
Morningstar.com Premium members now receive a Portfolio Monitor
report, a monthly portfolio performance statement delivered
directly to the investor's e-mail inbox. It provides a summary of
investment performance, including top contributors and detractors,
an asset allocation breakdown, and a digest of the latest
Morningstar analyst research available for the investor's
holdings.
Investors can also find a host of resources to manage their
household finances under the new "Real Life Finance" tab. The tab
is organized into seven different sections, each featuring
commentary and videos from Christine
Benz, Morningstar.com director of personal finance and
author of 30-Minute Money Solutions:
- Family Finance: This page contains tools and worksheets for
budgeting, calculating net worth, organizing personal finance files
and statements, along with tips for using credit wisely and ways to
save on everyday expenditures.
- Start Investing: In this section, new investors can find tools
to create an investment policy statement, establish the investment
portfolio that is right for them, and calculate their savings'
future worth.
- Save for College: Morningstar's comprehensive 529
college-savings plan research and ratings are found here in the 529
Plan Center, which has a screener to help parents determine which
state's plan is the best for their child. Detailed information on
other college-savings vehicles can be found here, as well, along
with Morningstar.com's popular college savings calculator.
- Invest for Retirement: Resources for managing a retirement
portfolio are located in this section, including a retirement
savings calculator, an IRA calculator, 401(k) plan tips, asset
allocation tools, and model retirement portfolios for aggressive,
moderate and conservative investors.
- Invest in Retirement: Designed to help retirees maximize their
investment income and make their savings last, this section
includes a retirement income tool to help find an optimal portfolio
withdrawal rate. The section also includes tips for adjusting
portfolios during retirement, maximizing Social Security, and
making smart decisions when purchasing annuities and long-term care
insurance.
- Optimize Your Portfolio: A set of resources to help investors
get the most out of their portfolio's performance, including tools
for creating watchlists; instant and portfolio X-Ray tools to guard
against overexposure and duplication of investments; articles on
rebalancing portfolios, asset allocation, and risk management; and
the best ways to balance short-term and long-term investment
goals.
- Minimize Taxes: This section brings tax-related topics to
investors' attention, including changes in public tax policy and
tax-efficient investment ideas.
In addition, Morningstar has added a number of new tools to help
make investing more transparent. For stock investors, the "Quote"
pages now contain an enhanced "Insiders" section featuring
executive compensation information versus performance, insider
activity charts, and board member connections. Major shareholder
information is also available along with peer ownership
comparisons, and investors can get credit rating information
including debt-to-equity capital structure. Morningstar.com also
now offers complete transcripts for public companies' earnings
conference calls in the new, searchable Earnings Call Center.
Fund investors also have new transparency tools at their
disposal. New risk ratings compare a fund to its Morningstar peer
category. Under the "Portfolio" tab, a new Morningstar® Ownership
Zone™ graphic visually shows a weighted average of the fund's
holdings against the Morningstar Style Box™. Colorful sector
weighting charts show fund holdings by sector versus the category
average and benchmark weight, and a global map shows a fund's
holdings by world region, with a percentage breakdown between
developed and emerging markets.
With 6.2 million registered users and reports on more than
29,000 stocks and funds, Morningstar.com has been ranked as one of
the top investing sites by Barron's, Forbes, and
Money magazines.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent
investment research in North
America, Europe,
Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of
Internet, software, and print-based products and services for
individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar
provides data on more than 370,000 investment offerings, including
stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time
global market data on more than 4 million equities, indexes,
futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to
foreign exchange and Treasury markets. The company has operations
in 26 countries.
©2011 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
Media Contact:
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Shawn Malayter, 312-696-6050
or shawn.malayter@morningstar.com
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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.