MORN Morningstar Inc

TORONTO, Oct. 14, 2011 /CNW/ - Morningstar Research Inc., a Canadian subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. , today launched a complete upgrade of Morningstar(®) Advisor Workstation(SM), its research, portfolio analysis, and investment planning software platform for financial advisors. The platform is available to advisors affiliated with an enterprise or dealer groups starting today. The new version incorporates the latest web technology with interface and usability improvements. Based on user feedback, Morningstar has designed a new user interface with more intuitive navigation, an improved home page, and dozens of new features to enhance usability, allowing advisors to work smarter and manage their workflow more efficiently. "To develop Advisor Workstation 2.0 in Canada, we listened to feedback from our customers and invested in significant technology upgrades to improve our software platform," said Scott Mackenzie, president and chief executive officer of Morningstar Research Inc. "The new technology infrastructure allows us to deliver enhancements more efficiently and to align with the evolving business needs of advisors and better serve them and their clients." One of the most requested new features Morningstar added is the ability for Advisor Workstation users to work collaboratively with their peers, either a group within an office or across multiple offices, via a new file sharing feature. Any record or file in Advisor Workstation that can be saved can also be shared with colleagues who are registered users, and advisors can customize permissions to each user and file. The home page has a number of new features to help advisors work more efficiently, including the ability to personalize the page's view to meet their needs. A quick-start feature allows advisors to launch their most frequently used tools with one click. Advisors can now generate popular reports like Investment Detail Reports and Quicktakes directly from the home page and prominently display their most recently modified files for easy access. Advisor Workstation is still available on a modular platform that allows firms to configure to their specifications. The core capabilities of Advisor Workstation's existing modules have not changed. The functionality and usability improvements include: -- The new Clients & Portfolios Module allows advisors to store and monitor all of their client's portfolios. The "Householding" feature in this module allows advisors to define and assign multiple family members to one household for aggregation purposes. -- The Research Module now offers streamlined search logic to help advisors find securities faster, the ability to view four times as many on-screen results as in the previous version of Advisor Workstation, and a new "All Securities" universe that permits searches and lists across investment types. New investment universes are also available for North American equities and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). -- The Hypotheticals Module allows users to construct realistic and fully customized investment scenarios of past security and/or portfolio performance with different start dates, investment amounts, contribution, withdrawal schemes, and fees. -- The new Planning Module introduces a true portfolio construction capability to Advisor Workstation; the step-by-step workflow includes risk assessment, customized asset allocation, and portfolio construction functionalities. For more information, please visit http://www.morningstar.ca/industry/articles/Advisor_Workstation_2.0_Brochure.pdf. About Morningstar Morningstar Research Inc. is a Canadian subsidiary of Chicago-based Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on approximately 400,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 5 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its registered investment advisor subsidiaries and has more than $180 billion in assets under advisement and management as of June 30, 2011. The company has operations in 26 countries. ©2011 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. Morningstar Research Inc. CONTACT: Media Contact: Jaime Aitken, 416-484-7868 or jaimelyn.aitken@morningstar.com

Copyright