US Market News
6日前
CME Group and Morningstar Announce Exclusive Index Derivatives Licensing AgreementJune 10, 2026 4:55 PM
PR Newswire (US) CHICAGO, June 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, along with Morningstar, a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced that they have entered into a multi-year licensing agreement for CME Group to launch derivatives products based on key Morningstar equity index benchmarks, including the Morningstar US Total Market, Large Cap, Large Cap Value, Large Cap Growth, Mid Cap, and Small Cap Indexes.Through this exclusive agreement, CME Group will offer derivatives on the Morningstar Market Indexes, currently rebranding from CRSP, for the first time, enabling clients to utilize derivatives based on the indexes which underpin over $3 trillion in linked assets."We are pleased to partner with Morningstar to help unlock more precise, next-generation risk management tools for the global investment community," said Tim McCourt, CME Group Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Equities, FX and Alternative Products. "Together, CME Group's deeply liquid equity derivatives marketplace paired with Morningstar's data-driven, benchmark ecosystem is expected to allow us to provide our global clients with an optimized framework to safely navigate market volatility and capture new opportunities.""We're excited to collaborate with CME Group to offer derivative products for the first time on the Morningstar Market Indexes, the most definitive and comprehensive measures of the US equity market," added Morningstar Indexes President Amelia Furr. "With our acquisition of CRSP earlier this year, we have become a leading provider of U.S. equity benchmarks, and the new relationship with CME Group will accelerate our growth even further. Most exciting, we expect to open new doors and bring our high-quality equity indexes to an entirely new segment of the global investment marketplace."About CME Group
As the world's leading derivatives marketplace, CME Group (www.cmegroup.com) enables clients to trade futures, options, cash and OTC markets, optimize portfolios, and analyze data – empowering market participants worldwide to efficiently manage risk and capture opportunities. CME Group exchanges offer the widest range of global benchmark products across all major asset classes based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, energy, agricultural products and metals. The company offers futures and options on futures trading through the CME Globex platform, fixed income trading via BrokerTec and foreign exchange trading on the EBS platform. In addition, it operates one of the world's leading central counterparty clearing providers, CME Clearing. CME Group, the Globe logo, CME, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Globex, and E-mini are trademarks of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. CBOT and Chicago Board of Trade are trademarks of Board of Trade of the City of Chicago, Inc. NYMEX, New York Mercantile Exchange and ClearPort are trademarks of New York Mercantile Exchange, Inc. COMEX is a trademark of Commodity Exchange, Inc. BrokerTec is a trademark of BrokerTec Americas LLC and EBS is a trademark of EBS Group LTD. The S&P 500 Index is a product of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC ("S&P DJI"). "S&P®", "S&P 500®", "SPY®", "SPX®", US 500 and The 500 are trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC; Dow Jones®, DJIA® and Dow Jones Industrial Average are service and/or trademarks of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. These trademarks have been licensed for use by Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. Futures contracts based on the S&P 500 Index are not sponsored, endorsed, marketed, or promoted by S&P DJI, and S&P DJI makes no representation regarding the advisability of investing in such products. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $370 billion in AUMA as of March 31, 2026. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "aim," "committed," "consider," "estimate," "future," "goal," "is designed to," "maintain," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "possible," "potential," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "prospects," "continue," "strategy," "strive," "will," "would," "determine," "evaluate," or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. These risks and uncertainties include, among others, failing to achieve the anticipated benefits of the licensing agreement between CME Group and Morningstar. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our future filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities in any jurisdiction.About Morningstar Indexes
Morningstar Indexes was built to keep up with the evolving needs of investors—and to be a leading-edge advocate for them. Morningstar's rich heritage as a transparent, investor-focused leader in data and research uniquely equips Morningstar Indexes to support individuals, institutions, wealth managers and advisors in navigating investment opportunities across all major asset classes, styles, and strategies. In February 2026, the acquisition of CRSP brought the CRSP Market Indexes – benchmarks for over $3 trillion in US equities – into the Morningstar Indexes family. Additionally, CRSP's Research Data Products, renowned for their academic rigor, historical depth and accuracy, further enhances Morningstar's equity benchmark and data capabilities. This powerful combination unites two trusted sources of market insight, reinforcing a shared commitment to transparency, quality and investor-focused solutions. Please visit indexes.morningstar.com for more information.CME-GMORN-C View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cme-group-and-morningstar-announce-exclusive-index-derivatives-licensing-agreement-302797286.htmlSOURCE CME Group; Morningstar, Inc. Original: CME Group and Morningstar Announce Exclusive Index Derivatives Licensing Agreement
US Market News
1月前
Morningstar and PitchBook Expand Access to Trusted Investment Intelligence Through PerplexityMay 8, 2026 9:00 AM
Business Wire Integration advances Morningstar and PitchBook’s vision of trusted, analyst-backed intelligence in AI-powered research workflows Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, and PitchBook, a Morningstar company and a leading private capital market intelligence provider, today announced a new integration with Perplexity that broadens access to Morningstar and PitchBook data, research, and intelligence through Perplexity’s AI platform. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260507807687/en/ Through these Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations, eligible users can incorporate Morningstar- and PitchBook-backed intelligence directly into their research workflows within Perplexity and Perplexity Computer, where they can move from questions to carrying out multi-step research tasks with trusted context. The experience pairs natural-language search with citation-based responses, drawing on the breadth of Morningstar and PitchBook’s analyst-driven investment research across public and private markets. This supports more efficient research by helping investors and financial advisors swiftly find and use trusted information in AI-enabled workflows. “Our focus is on delivering independent, analyst-backed intelligence in ways that align with how investors and financial professionals work today,” said Adam Wheat, head of Data & Research Solutions, chief technology officer for Direct Platform at Morningstar. “By making Morningstar and PitchBook content available in Perplexity, we’re extending the reach of our data and research while maintaining the rigor investors require to act with confidence when it matters most.” Perplexity’s focus is accurate AI, bringing users citation-based answers and, through Perplexity Computer, the ability to complete more complex research workflows with relevant context. This aligns closely with Morningstar’s longstanding commitment to investor trust and informed decision-making. Integrating Morningstar and PitchBook intelligence into this environment helps users answer questions about investment vehicles and develop perspectives that are grounded in Morningstar’s independent research and professional-grade data they can defend and trust. The collaboration reflects Morningstar and PitchBook’s broader AI strategy designed to reshape how investment intelligence is delivered and consumed. Key areas of focus include scaling AI alongside human expertise, embedding AI into workflows where investment decisions get made, and delivering proprietary data and intellectual property through channels clients use. Together, these efforts position Morningstar and PitchBook as the grounding source that investors and financial professionals use, supporting better-informed investment decisions while maintaining the independence and governance standards central to their approach. “The way investment research is conducted is evolving, and the data powering it has never mattered more,” said Tom Van Buskirk, executive vice president of technology and engineering at PitchBook. “When financial professionals need a source of truth in private and public markets, they come to us. By integrating with platforms like Perplexity, we’re bringing Morningstar and PitchBook intelligence to the center of the AI tools investors already rely on.” To learn more about PitchBook’s Premium Connector, click here. To learn more about Morningstar Direct AI Solutions, click here. About Morningstar, Inc. Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $370 billion in AUMA as of March 31, 2026. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on X @MorningstarInc. About PitchBook, a Morningstar company As the pulse of private capital markets, PitchBook delivers trusted, real-time data, research, and technology to help investors, dealmakers, and innovators make decisions with confidence. Its products provide comprehensive information on companies, investors, funds, deals, and people, along with tools that help professionals analyze market activity and make informed decisions. Founded in 2007, PitchBook today serves more than 100,000 clients worldwide and is recognized as the leading source of private capital market intelligence. PitchBook has grown to over 3,000 employees across offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and other global locations. For more information, visit www.pitchbook.com. ©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved. MORN-P View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260507807687/en/ Michael Claussen, +1 312 696-6037, Newsroom@morningstar.com Original: Morningstar and PitchBook Expand Access to Trusted Investment Intelligence Through Perplexity
US Market News
2月前
Morningstar, Inc. Reports First-Quarter 2026 Financial ResultsApril 29, 2026 4:15 PM
Business Wire
Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, reported increased revenues in the first quarter of 2026 with sustained momentum in profitability growth.
“In the first quarter, we created significant value, growing operating and adjusted operating income by more than 30%, while reducing shares outstanding by roughly 4% for a total of more than 10% over the past 12 months,” said Kunal Kapoor, Morningstar’s CEO. “On the product front, we introduced new proprietary intellectual property, including PitchBook's daily valuation estimates for venture capital-backed companies and public-market-style research on leading private firms.”
The Company's quarterly shareholder letter provides more context on its quarterly results and business performance and can be found at shareholders.morningstar.com.
First-Quarter 2026 Financial Highlights
Reported revenue increased 10.8% to $644.8 million compared to the prior-year period; organic revenue increased 7.6%.
Reported operating income increased 36.6% to $155.9 million; adjusted operating income increased 31.9%.
Diluted net income per share increased 50.0% to $2.73; adjusted diluted net income per share increased 42.6% to $3.18.
Cash provided by operating activities was roughly flat at $91.5 million; free cash flow decreased 8.8% to $53.6 million.
Share repurchases totaled 1,723,412 shares for $300.0 million.
First-Quarter 2026 Results
Revenue increased 10.8% to $644.8 million on a reported basis and 7.6% on an organic basis versus the prior-year period. Morningstar Credit, Morningstar Direct Platform, and PitchBook were the largest contributors to organic revenue growth.
Operating expense increased 4.7% to $489.8 million versus the prior-year period. The largest contributor to higher operating expense was a $7.6 million increase in compensation costs, primarily driven by unfavorable currency translation related to US dollar weakness. Higher amortization costs, primarily due to the acquisition of the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP), which closed in the quarter, and increased technology infrastructure costs also contributed.
First-quarter operating income increased 36.6% to $155.9 million. Adjusted operating income was $178.6 million, an increase of 31.9%. First-quarter operating margin was 24.2%, compared with 19.6% in the prior-year period. Adjusted operating margin was 27.7% in the first quarter of 2026, versus 23.3% in the prior-year period. The acquisition of CRSP was accretive to adjusted operating margin in the quarter.
Net income in the first quarter of 2026 was $107.1 million, or $2.73 per diluted share, compared with net income of $78.5 million, or $1.82 per diluted share, in the prior-year period, an increase of 50.0% on a per diluted share basis. Adjusted diluted net income per share increased 42.6% to $3.18 in the first quarter of 2026, compared with $2.23 in the prior-year period.
The Company's effective tax rate was 24.4% in the first quarter of 2026 compared to 25.9% in the prior-year period.
Segment Highlights
Morningstar Direct Platform
Morningstar Direct Platform contributed $215.2 million to consolidated revenue and $16.0 million to consolidated revenue growth, with revenue increasing 8.0% compared to the prior-year period, or 5.0% on an organic basis. Higher revenue was primarily driven by Morningstar Data and Morningstar Direct. The increase in Morningstar Data was driven in part by expansion with existing clients supported by new use cases, with continued strength in managed investment data and Morningstar Essentials products. Morningstar Direct growth reflected increased revenue per license and expansion with existing clients in reporting solutions, despite a decline of 1.8% in Direct licenses compared with the prior-year period as some client workflows shifted.
Morningstar Direct Platform adjusted operating income increased 4.5% to $91.0 million, and adjusted operating margin decreased 1.4 percentage points to 42.3%, due in part to a shift of additional research and sales resources to support Direct Platform growth priorities, partially offset by targeted reorganizations in the fourth quarter of 2025.
PitchBook
PitchBook contributed $172.4 million to consolidated revenue and $8.7 million to consolidated revenue growth, with revenue increasing 5.3% compared to the prior-year period, or 4.8% on an organic basis. Revenue growth was primarily driven by the PitchBook platform with strength in the direct data business, which continued to expand from a smaller base. The increase in PitchBook revenue reflected contributions from its core investor and advisor client segments, although growth slowed, especially in venture capital, while the corporate client segment continued to experience softness. Licensed user counts were relatively flat compared to the prior-year period, reflecting the addition of new logos offset by churn within the corporate segment.
PitchBook adjusted operating income decreased 1.3% to $51.6 million, and adjusted operating margin decreased 2.0 percentage points to 29.9%. The decline in adjusted operating margin was due in part to higher advertising expenses and an increase in compensation costs, which included the impact of additional headcount to support new growth initiatives.
Morningstar Credit
Morningstar Credit contributed $101.0 million to consolidated revenue and $28.0 million to consolidated revenue growth, with revenue increasing 38.4% compared to the prior-year period, or 34.3% on an organic basis, supported by a robust issuance market. Revenue grew across geographies and asset classes, with particular strength in Canadian and European corporates and US structured finance ratings revenue. Organic revenue growth excludes revenue associated with DealX for the first two months of the quarter, and foreign currency impact.
Morningstar Credit adjusted operating income increased 92.5% to $41.2 million, and adjusted operating margin increased 11.5 percentage points to 40.8%. The increase in adjusted operating income and margin reflected higher revenue, partially offset by higher compensation costs. The increase in compensation was primarily driven by higher salaries and benefits due to increases in headcount to support growth.
Morningstar Wealth
Morningstar Wealth contributed $58.0 million to consolidated revenue and negative $3.3 million to consolidated revenue growth, with revenue decreasing 5.4% compared to the prior-year period, or 1.6% on an organic basis. Organic revenue excluded interim services fees received from AssetMark associated with the Company's sale of customer assets from the US Morningstar Wealth Turnkey Asset Management Platform from the prior-year period, and foreign currency impact. Reported and organic revenue included a $5.5 million negative impact from the sunsetting of Morningstar Office, which was partially offset by growth in ad sales and Investment Management, which grew on an organic basis.
Reported assets under management and advisement (AUMA) decreased 5.3% to $60.4 billion compared with the prior-year period. Excluding the impact of the loss of an Asset Allocation Services client, which accounted for a negligible share of Investment Management revenue, AUMA increased compared to the prior-year period, supported by market appreciation and positive net flows to Morningstar Model Portfolios offered on third-party platforms and the International Wealth Platform.
Morningstar Wealth adjusted operating income was $5.6 million compared to a $0.8 million loss in the prior-year period, and adjusted operating margin was 9.7% compared with negative 1.3% in the prior-year period.
Morningstar Retirement
Morningstar Retirement contributed $38.8 million to consolidated revenue and $5.9 million to consolidated revenue growth. Revenue increased 17.9% on a reported and organic basis. AUMA increased 11.7% to $310.0 billion compared with the prior-year period, primarily due to market gains and supported by positive net flows to traditional and Advisor Managed Accounts.
Morningstar Retirement adjusted operating income increased 35.6% to $19.8 million, and adjusted operating margin increased 6.6 percentage points to 51.0%. Adjusted operating income included the impact of a discrete expense related to a correction of a client's participant accounts.
Corporate and All Other
Revenue attributable to Corporate and All Other contributed $59.4 million to consolidated revenue and $7.6 million to consolidated revenue growth, with reported revenue increasing 14.7%, or decreasing 8.1% on an organic basis, compared to the prior-year period. Organic revenue growth excludes revenue associated with CRSP and foreign currency impact.
Morningstar Sustainalytics revenue declined on a reported and organic basis primarily due to the retirement of the second party opinions product. Morningstar Indexes revenue was roughly flat on an organic basis.
The impact of Corporate and All Other on consolidated adjusted operating income was negative $30.6 million compared with negative $39.2 million in the prior-year period, primarily due to improved profitability for Morningstar Indexes, including the impact of the CRSP acquisition.
Balance Sheet and Capital Allocation
As of March 31, 2026, the Company had cash, cash equivalents, and investments totaling $532.2 million and $1,712.8 million of debt, compared with $528.7 million and $1,072.6 million, respectively, as of Dec. 31, 2025.
Cash provided by operating activities was roughly flat at $91.5 million, as higher cash earnings were offset by increases in working capital and higher cash taxes paid. Free cash flow decreased 8.8% to $53.6 million in the first quarter of 2026 reflecting an increase in capital expenditures compared to the prior-year period due in part to spending related to office refreshes across geographies.
During the quarter, the Company increased its debt by $640.0 million, net, spent $359.6 million on the CRSP acquisition, net of cash acquired, repurchased $300.0 million of its shares, and paid $19.9 million in dividends.
2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders
The Company's 2026 Annual Meeting of Shareholders will be held at 9 a.m. Central Time on Thursday, May 7, at Morningstar's corporate headquarters at 22 W. Washington St. in Chicago. Registration details are available at shareholders.morningstar.com. The meeting will cover the official business described in Morningstar's 2026 proxy statement and include presentations from members of Morningstar's management team, along with a live question and answer session open to participants both in-person and online. New at this year's meeting, the Company has expanded the time available for product demonstrations, which will be available to in-person attendees before and after the formal meeting.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
Organic revenue, adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted operating margin, adjusted diluted net income per share, and free cash flow are non-GAAP financial measures. The tables at the end of this press release include a reconciliation of the non-GAAP financial measures used by the Company to comparable GAAP measures and an explanation of why the Company uses them.
Investor Communication
Morningstar encourages all interested parties — including securities analysts, current shareholders, potential shareholders, and others — to submit questions in writing. Investors and others may send questions about Morningstar’s business to investors@morningstar.com. Morningstar will make written responses to selected inquiries available to all investors at the same time in Form 8-Ks furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC), on a monthly basis, with the exception of months when it releases earnings.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $370 billion in AUMA as of March 31, 2026. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on X @MorningstarInc.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "aim," "committed," "consider," "estimate," "future," "goal," "is designed to," "maintain," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "possible," "potential," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "prospects," "continue," "strategy," "strive," "will," "would," "determine," "evaluate," or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, failing to achieve the anticipated benefits of the CRSP acquisition; failing to maintain and protect our brand, independence, and reputation; failing to prevent and/or mitigate cybersecurity events and the failure to protect confidential information, including personal information about individuals; changing economic and market conditions, including prolonged volatility, recessions, or downturns affecting the financial, data and software sectors and global financial markets, fluctuating interest rates, and the impacts of global trade policies, may negatively impact our financial results, including those of our asset-based businesses; compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in or expansion of laws applicable to our regulated businesses; failing to innovate or streamline our product and service offerings or meet or anticipate our clients’ changing needs; impact of artificial intelligence technologies on our business and reputation, as well as legal and reputational risks as they are incorporated into our products and tools; failing to detect errors in our products or methodology of our products performing improperly due to defects, malfunctions or similar problems; failing to recruit, develop, and retain qualified employees; failing to scale our operations and increase productivity in order to implement our business plans and strategies, including failing to manage costs related thereto; liability for any losses that result from errors in our automated advisory tools or errors in the use of the information and data we collect; inadequacy of our operational risk management and business continuity programs to address materially disruptive events; our strategic transactions, acquisitions, divestitures and investments in companies or technologies failing to yield expected business or financial benefits, negatively impacting our operating results and our ability to deliver long-term value to shareholders; triggering events for impairment of goodwill or assets; failing to maintain growth across our businesses due to changes in geopolitics and the regulatory landscape; failing to recognize deferred revenue; liability relating to the information and data we collect, store, use, create, and distribute or the reports that we publish or are produced by our software products; the potential adverse effect of our indebtedness (and rising interest rates) on our cash flow and financial and operational flexibility; liability, regulatory scrutiny, costs and reputational risks relating to environmental, social, and governance considerations; our dependence on third-party service providers in our operations; inadequacy of our insurance coverage; challenges in accounting for tax complexities in the global jurisdictions we operate in could materially affect our tax obligations and tax rates; the potential impact of vendor consolidation and clients' strategic decisions to replace our products and services with in-house products and services; our ability to build and maintain short-term and long-term shareholder value and pay dividends to our shareholders; our ability to repurchase shares of our common stock; our ability to maintain existing business and renewal rates and to gain new business; the impact of recently issued accounting pronouncements on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosure; volatility in our stock price due to market conditions; any future sales of common stock and fluctuations in our operating results; and failing to protect our intellectual property rights or claims of intellectual property infringement against us. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties, among others, can be found in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Report on Form 10-K. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our future filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities of Morningstar in any jurisdiction.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MORN-E
Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Income
Three months ended March 31,
(in millions, except per share amounts)
2026
2025
Change
Revenue
$
644.8
$
581.9
10.8
%
Operating expense:
Cost of revenue
238.9
231.4
3.2
%
Sales and marketing
115.2
112.6
2.3
%
General and administrative
84.0
76.5
9.8
%
Depreciation and amortization
51.7
47.3
9.3
%
Total operating expense
489.8
467.8
4.7
%
Other operating income
0.9
—
NMF
Operating income
155.9
114.1
36.6
%
Operating margin
24.2
%
19.6
%
4.6 pp
Non-operating income (expense), net:
Interest expense, net
(13.7
)
(5.4
)
NMF
Other income (expense), net
(0.4
)
(0.2
)
NMF
Non-operating income (expense), net
(14.1
)
(5.6
)
NMF
Income before income taxes and equity in investments of unconsolidated entities
141.8
108.5
30.7
%
Equity in investments of unconsolidated entities
(0.1
)
(2.6
)
NMF
Income tax expense
34.6
27.4
26.3
%
Consolidated net income
$
107.1
$
78.5
36.4
%
Net income per share:
Basic
$
2.74
$
1.83
49.7
%
Diluted
$
2.73
$
1.82
50.0
%
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Basic
39.1
42.8
Diluted
39.3
43.1
NMF - Not meaningful, pp - percentage points
Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(in millions)
As of March 31, 2026
(unaudited)
As of December 31, 2025
Assets
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents
$
492.8
$
474.5
Investments
39.4
54.2
Accounts receivable, net
402.6
390.4
Income tax receivable
15.4
16.2
Other current assets
113.1
102.7
Total current assets
1,063.3
1,038.0
Goodwill
1,747.2
1,610.8
Intangible assets, net
591.4
379.3
Property, equipment, and capitalized software, net
234.8
231.9
Operating lease assets
166.0
159.0
Investments in unconsolidated entities
50.3
50.3
Deferred tax assets
86.0
78.7
Other assets
47.3
42.2
Total assets
$
3,986.3
$
3,590.2
Liabilities and equity
Current liabilities:
Deferred revenue
$
669.3
$
586.1
Accrued compensation
144.9
294.2
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities
104.6
97.9
Operating lease liabilities
42.7
41.8
Current portion of long-term debt
18.2
—
Income tax payable
43.1
24.0
Other current liabilities
7.9
9.3
Total current liabilities
1,030.7
1,053.3
Operating lease liabilities
151.0
146.7
Accrued compensation
20.3
20.1
Deferred tax liabilities
21.5
27.2
Long-term debt
1,694.6
1,072.6
Income tax payable
13.8
13.1
Other long-term liabilities
35.7
35.3
Total liabilities
2,967.6
2,368.3
Total equity
1,018.7
1,221.9
Total liabilities and equity
$
3,986.3
$
3,590.2
Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
Three months ended March 31,
(in millions)
2026
2025
Operating activities
Consolidated net income
$
107.1
$
78.5
Adjustments to reconcile consolidated net income to net cash flows from operating activities
51.8
53.5
Changes in operating assets and liabilities, net
(67.4
)
(41.0
)
Cash provided by operating activities
91.5
91.0
Investing activities
Capital expenditures
(37.9
)
(32.2
)
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired
(359.6
)
(38.5
)
Purchases of investments in unconsolidated entities
(0.1
)
(1.2
)
Other, net
13.2
1.2
Cash used for investing activities
(384.4
)
(70.7
)
Financing activities
Common shares repurchased
(300.0
)
(109.6
)
Dividends paid
(19.9
)
(19.5
)
Repayments of debt
(30.0
)
(40.0
)
Proceeds from debt
670.0
145.0
Other, net
(3.2
)
—
Cash provided by (used for) financing activities
316.9
(24.1
)
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents
(5.7
)
12.6
Net increase in cash and cash equivalents
18.3
8.8
Cash and cash equivalents-beginning of period
474.5
502.7
Cash and cash equivalents-end of period
$
492.8
$
511.5
Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Supplemental Data (Unaudited)
Three months ended March 31,
(in millions)
2026
2025
Change
Organic
Morningstar Direct Platform
Revenue
$
215.2
$
199.2
8.0
%
5.0
%
Adjusted Operating Income
$
91.0
$
87.1
4.5
%
Adjusted Operating Margin
42.3
%
43.7
%
(1.4) pp
PitchBook
Revenue
$
172.4
$
163.7
5.3
%
4.8
%
Adjusted Operating Income
$
51.6
$
52.3
(1.3)
%
Adjusted Operating Margin
29.9
%
31.9
%
(2.0) pp
Morningstar Credit
Revenue
$
101.0
$
73.0
38.4
%
34.3
%
Adjusted Operating Income
$
41.2
$
21.4
92.5
%
Adjusted Operating Margin
40.8
%
29.3
%
11.5 pp
Morningstar Wealth
Revenue
$
58.0
$
61.3
(5.4)
%
(1.6)
%
Adjusted Operating Income (Loss)
$
5.6
$
(0.8
)
NMF
Adjusted Operating Margin
9.7
%
(1.3)
%
11.0 pp
Morningstar Retirement
Revenue
$
38.8
$
32.9
17.9
%
17.9
%
Adjusted Operating Income
$
19.8
$
14.6
35.6
%
Adjusted Operating Margin
51.0
%
44.4
%
6.6 pp
Consolidated Revenue
Total Reportable Segments
$
585.4
$
530.1
10.4
%
Corporate and All Other (1)
59.4
51.8
14.7
%
Total Revenue
$
644.8
$
581.9
10.8
%
7.6
%
Consolidated Adjusted Operating Income
Total Reportable Segments
$
209.2
$
174.6
19.8
%
Less: Corporate and All Other (2)
(30.6
)
(39.2
)
NMF
Adjusted Operating Income
$
178.6
$
135.4
31.9
%
Adjusted Operating Margin
27.7
%
23.3
%
4.4 pp
(1) Corporate and All Other provides a reconciliation between revenue from our Total Reportable Segments and consolidated revenue amounts. Corporate and All Other includes Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes as sources of revenues. Revenue from Morningstar Sustainalytics was $26.6 million and $28.8 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively. Revenue from Morningstar Indexes was $32.8 million and $23.0 million for the three months ended March 31, 2026 and 2025, respectively.
(2) Corporate and All Other includes unallocated corporate expenses as well as adjusted operating income (loss) from Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes. For the first quarters of 2026 and 2025, unallocated corporate expenses were $41.8 million in each period. Unallocated corporate expenses include finance, human resources, legal, and other management-related costs that are not considered when segment performance is evaluated.
Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Supplemental Data (Unaudited)
As of March 31,
AUMA (approximate) ($bil)
2026
2025
Change
Morningstar Retirement
Managed Accounts
$
191.7
$
162.8
17.8
%
Fiduciary Services
73.5
65.6
12.0
%
Custom Models/CIT
44.8
49.2
(8.9)
%
Morningstar Retirement (total)
$
310.0
$
277.6
11.7
%
Investment Management
Morningstar Model Portfolios (1)
$
51.9
$
44.5
16.6
%
Institutional Asset Management
5.9
6.9
(14.5)
%
Asset Allocation Services
2.6
12.4
(79.0)
%
Investment Management (total)
$
60.4
$
63.8
(5.3)
%
Asset value linked to Morningstar Indexes ($bil) (2)
$
3,170.1
$
208.7
NMF
Three months ended March 31,
2026
2025
Change
Average AUMA ($bil)
$
374.2
$
339.8
10.1
%
(1) Includes AUMA in Morningstar Model Portfolios and assets on the International Wealth Platform invested in third-party model portfolios.
(2) Includes $2.9 trillion of assets linked to CRSP indexes as of March 31, 2026.
Morningstar, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Reconciliations of Non-GAAP Measures with the Nearest Comparable GAAP Measures (Unaudited)
To supplement Morningstar’s condensed consolidated financial statements presented in accordance with US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), Morningstar uses the following measures considered as non-GAAP by the SEC, including:
"Organic Revenue" is consolidated revenue before (1) acquisitions and divestitures, (2) adoption of new accounting standards or revisions to accounting practices (accounting changes), and (3) the effect of foreign currency translations.
"Adjusted Operating Income (Loss)" is consolidated operating income (loss) excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) the impact of merger, acquisition, and divestiture-related activity which, when applicable, may include certain non-recurring expenses such as pre-deal due diligence, transaction costs, contingent consideration, severance, and post-close integration costs (M&A-related expenses), and (3) certain other one-time, non-recurring items which management does not consider when evaluating ongoing performance (other non-recurring items).
"Adjusted Operating Margin" is operating margin excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, and (3) other non-recurring items.
"Adjusted Diluted Net Income Per Share" is consolidated diluted net income per share excluding (1) intangible amortization expense, (2) M&A-related expenses, (3) other non-recurring items, and (4) non-operating gains and losses.
"Free Cash Flow" is cash provided by or used for operating activities less capital expenditures.
These non-GAAP measures may not be comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies and should not be considered an alternative to any measure of performance promulgated under GAAP.
Morningstar presents organic revenue because the Company believes this non-GAAP measure helps investors better compare period-over-period results. Morningstar excludes revenue from acquired businesses from its organic revenue growth calculation for a period of 12 months after it completes the acquisition. For divestitures (including sale of assets), Morningstar excludes revenue in the prior-year period for which there is no comparable revenue in the current period.
Morningstar presents adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted operating margin, and adjusted diluted net income per share to better reflect period-over-period comparisons, and improve overall understanding of the underlying performance of the business absent the impact of intangible amortization expense, M&A-related expenses, and certain other one-time, non-recurring items.
In addition, Morningstar presents free cash flow as a supplemental disclosure to help investors better understand how much cash is available after making capital expenditures. Morningstar's management team uses free cash flow to evaluate the health of its business.
Three months ended March 31,
(in millions)
2026
2025
Change
Reconciliation from consolidated revenue to organic revenue:
Consolidated revenue
$
644.8
$
581.9
10.8
%
Acquisitions
(10.5
)
—
NMF
Divestitures
(3.0
)
(7.6
)
NMF
Effect of foreign currency translations
(13.5
)
—
NMF
Organic revenue
$
617.8
$
574.3
7.6
%
Reconciliation from consolidated operating income to adjusted operating income:
Consolidated operating income
$
155.9
$
114.1
36.6
%
Intangible amortization expense
19.0
14.4
31.9
%
M&A-related expenses
4.6
6.9
(33.3
)%
Other non-recurring items
(0.9
)
—
NMF
Adjusted operating income
$
178.6
$
135.4
31.9
%
Reconciliation from consolidated operating margin to adjusted operating margin:
Consolidated operating margin
24.2
%
19.6
%
4.6 pp
Intangible amortization expense
2.9
%
2.5
%
0.4 pp
M&A-related expenses
0.7
%
1.2
%
(0.5) pp
Other non-recurring items
(0.1
)%
—
%
(0.1) pp
Adjusted operating margin
27.7
%
23.3
%
4.4 pp
Reconciliation from consolidated diluted net income per share to adjusted diluted net income per share:
Consolidated diluted net income per share
$
2.73
$
1.82
50.0
%
Intangible amortization expense
0.36
0.25
44.0
%
M&A-related expenses
0.09
0.12
(25.0
)%
Other non-recurring items
(0.02
)
—
NMF
Non-operating (gains) losses
0.02
0.04
(50.0
)%
Adjusted diluted net income per share
$
3.18
$
2.23
42.6
%
Reconciliation from cash provided by operating activities to free cash flow:
Cash provided by operating activities
$
91.5
$
91.0
0.5
%
Capital expenditures
(37.9
)
(32.2
)
17.7
%
Free cash flow
$
53.6
$
58.8
(8.8
)%
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260428737994/en/
Media Relations Contact:
Stephanie Lerdall, +1 312-244-7805, stephanie.lerdall@morningstar.com
Investor Relations Contact:
Sarah Bush, +1 312-384-3754, sarah.bush@morningstar.com
Original: Morningstar, Inc. Reports First-Quarter 2026 Financial Results
US Market News
2月前
Pello Companies to Acquire ByAllAccounts from MorningstarApril 9, 2026 4:15 PM
Business Wire
The acquisition of ByAllAccounts will support continued growth and innovation in data aggregation, while Morningstar will remain a committed customer
Pello Companies, LLC, which focuses on open finance innovation, today announced the entry into a definitive agreement for the acquisition of ByAllAccounts, a provider of innovative data aggregation technology for financial applications, from Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN). Upon completion of the transaction, ByAllAccounts will operate as a standalone company. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2026, subject to customary closing conditions. Deal terms are not disclosed.
Pello Companies will appoint Cynthia Rojas Sejas as Chief Executive Officer of ByAllAccounts. With 25 years of senior leadership experience driving growth strategies for financial data and analytics solutions at Moody’s and S&P Global, she brings a proven track record of success. Pello Companies’ leadership is recognized for its deep expertise in open finance and data aggregation. Together with the ByAllAccounts team—many of whom have decades of experience in wealth management—the company aims to accelerate innovation, expand access to new data sources, and further strengthen its infrastructure and reliability.
“ByAllAccounts built a strong and trusted data aggregation platform under Morningstar's ownership. In this next chapter, we are excited to focus capital and execution on accelerating innovation and delivering differentiated, best-in-class solutions in wealth management,” said Cynthia Rojas Sejas, incoming CEO of ByAllAccounts. “Our vision is to deliver to advisors, wealth managers, and wealth technology platforms the most comprehensive financial account data, and an expanded set of capabilities that extend beyond pure data aggregation. Through deep relationships, including Morningstar, we are confident about powering the ongoing digital transformation of the wealth management ecosystem.”
The transaction aligns with the growing scale Morningstar is seeing in focusing its advisor products and portfolio solutions around proprietary data, research, software, and investment management capabilities. Through Morningstar Wealth and Morningstar Retirement, the company provides investment management services to individuals and advisors, with approximately $378 billion in assets under management and advisement as of Dec. 31, 2025.
"ByAllAccounts has enabled investors, advisors, and platforms to aggregate trusted account data securely and at scale for more than 25 years,” said Daniel Needham, president of Morningstar Wealth and Research & Investments. “This transaction allows ByAllAccounts to gain focused expertise and investment to support its next phase of growth, and Morningstar will continue to offer ByAllAccounts as an integrated capability within our products, including the Direct Advisory Suite and Morningstar Investor.”
Pello Companies was advised by Wedbush & Co., LLC and the law firm of Cooley LLP. Morningstar was advised by Mayer Brown LLP.
About Pello Companies, LLC
Pello Companies, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, is dedicated to driving innovation in open finance and wealth management by nurturing and supporting the growth of financial technology startups. With a strong portfolio, the company leverages its extensive expertise to fully unlock the potential of the open finance ecosystem. The leadership team is committed to delivering cutting-edge solutions that enhance financial services, promote innovation in wealth management, and increase financial inclusion.
About ByAllAccounts
ByAllAccounts provides innovative data aggregation technology for financial applications. The company develops the essential data aggregation technology that serves as the foundation for the financial industry's wealth management applications, including portfolio management, reporting, compliance, trust accounting, and tax-aware investing. Its open architecture solution uses artificial intelligence to gather and transform financial account data and deliver it to any financial platform.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $378 billion in AUMA as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-C
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260409141626/en/
Media Contacts:
DeAnn Zebelean, +801 580-2175, deann.zebelean@pellocompanies.com
Sarah Wirth, +1 312 696-6037, sarah.wirth@morningstar.com
Original: Pello Companies to Acquire ByAllAccounts from Morningstar
US Market News
2月前
Morningstar Announces Winners for the 2026 US Morningstar Awards for Investing ExcellenceApril 8, 2026 10:00 AM
Business Wire
Investment leaders recognized for disciplined performance and investor-first decision making
Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced the winners of the 2026 US Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence. The awards recognize portfolio managers and asset management firms that Morningstar believes exemplify long-term investment skill, thoughtful risk-taking, and a consistent commitment to serving investors’ best interests.
The 2026 winners are:
Outstanding Equity Portfolio Manager: Harry Hartford and Sarah Ketterer, Causeway Capital
Outstanding Fixed Income Portfolio Manager: Jerome Schneider, PIMCO
Outstanding Allocation Portfolio Manager: Michelle Black, Samir Mathur, and Wesley Phoa, Capital Group
Exemplary Stewardship: PIMCO
“Over time, markets tend to favor consistency and discipline rather than short-term noise,” said Timothy Strauts, head of manager research, North America. “This year’s winners set themselves apart through clear investment philosophies, decisive action at critical moments, and an unwavering focus on investor outcomes. Their work reflects what Morningstar means by investing excellence.”
Profiles of each winner and highlights of their investment approach are available on Morningstar.com.
Live Webinar Featuring the 2026 Award Winners
Morningstar will host a live webinar featuring the 2026 award winners tomorrow, April 9, at 11 a.m. CT, with discussion led by Morningstar’s manager research team and a financial journalist co-moderator. The program will offer insights into the winners’ investment philosophies, decision-making processes, and learnings across market cycles. Register to join the conversation.
Methodology
Morningstar’s manager research analysts conduct in-depth, qualitative analyses to select nominees and vote to determine award winners. Read the methodology for the US Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence.
The Outstanding Portfolio Manager Award recognizes an individual or team who has produced exceptional returns over the long term. Morningstar presents awards in equity, fixed income, and allocation categories. To qualify, a manager’s strategy must currently earn a Morningstar Medalist Rating of Gold or Silver for at least one vehicle and/or share class in the appropriate asset class.
The Exemplary Stewardship Award recognizes an asset manager that has shown an unwavering focus on serving the best interests of investors. Eligible firms must have received a Parent Pillar rating of High or Above Average. The Parent Pillar rating measures the quality of the firm’s care of investors’ capital. The firm must demonstrate an investor-focused corporate culture and an alignment of interests between investors and the people who control the destiny of the investment strategies.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $378 billion in AUMA as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.
Morningstar’s Manager Research Group
Morningstar’s Manager Research Group consists of various wholly owned subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. including, but not limited to, Morningstar Research Services LLC. Morningstar Manager Research provides independent, fundamental analysis on managed investment strategies. Morningstar views are expressed in the form of Morningstar Medalist Ratings, which are derived through research of three key fundamental pillars—People, Process, and Parent, and a quantitative assessment of costs in the form of the Medalist Rating Price Score. The Morningstar Medalist Rating is the summary expression of Morningstar’s forward-looking analysis of investment strategies as offered via specific vehicles using a rating scale of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative. A global research team issues detailed research reports on strategies that span vehicle, asset class, and geography.
Medalist Ratings are not statements of fact, nor are they credit or risk ratings, and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. A Medalist Rating is not intended to be nor is a guarantee of future performance. This press release is for informational purposes only; references to securities should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the securities.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-R
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Michael Claussen, +1 312 696-6037, newsroom@morningstar.com
Original: Morningstar Announces Winners for the 2026 US Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence
US Market News
3月前
PitchBook Launches Pioneer Certification Program to the PublicMarch 31, 2026 9:00 AM
Business Wire
New learning paths empower finance professionals everywhere to build platform proficiency and advance their careers
PitchBook, the leading private capital market intelligence provider, today announced that PitchBook Pioneer, its on-demand training and certification program, is now open to everyone — not just PitchBook clients. PitchBook Pioneer features a catalog of self-paced courses and certification programs covering market intelligence, deal sourcing and execution, and a thorough overview of PitchBook's platform capabilities. Upon completing each program, participants earn a certificate they can display on LinkedIn and their resume. PitchBook clients also have access to live training workshops for a more hands-on, interactive learning experience.
By opening Pioneer to a broader audience, PitchBook is extending its commitment to empowering the next generation of financial professionals — giving students and practitioners outside the PitchBook ecosystem access to the same foundational knowledge that powers decisions at leading investment firms and institutions.
As private markets enter 2026 navigating AI-driven capital concentration, shifting fundraising dynamics, and evolving exit conditions, the ability to read and act on market data has never been more critical. PitchBook Pioneer offers learning paths for venture capital, private equity, and general finance workflows, as well as dedicated courses for university students. Learning paths include:
Uncovering trends and emerging spaces
Leveraging Screeners to analyze macro-level fund performance and exit trends
Using Screeners to create an effective target list
Finding companies in target sectors primed for funding or acquisition
Identifying new investment strategies
Analyzing comps using pivot tables
“We are dedicated to developing the next generation of financial professionals and expanding access to private market education,” said Rod Diefendorf, President & Chief Operating Officer at PitchBook. “Pioneer builds on that commitment. It gives students and professionals the opportunity to learn how to navigate market data and apply those insights in real-world situations. By making this program available beyond our clients, we’re helping more people build the skills needed to make smarter decisions in today’s market.”
Early participants say the program has already changed how they approach the platform and their careers:
“This PitchBook certification will help to locate startups and venture capital firms in order to understand the VC universe, and the average size of deals in startup stages.” – VC at Silicon Foundry
“I am a college student, and I see these certifications helping me boost my resume in looking for my first entry-level job in my career.” - Student, Purdue University
“This certification was an engaging learning experience for me that got me excited to work with the platform. This excitement led me to discover new and interesting areas of research that will inform my future career field.” - Student, The University of Chicago
PitchBook currently serves more than 100,000 clients worldwide and is used by elite academic institutions to support financial education. The PitchBook Pioneer certification program helps both clients and prospective users accelerate their workflows, stay current on platform capabilities, and advance their careers. For students, the program builds real-world knowledge and skills to strengthen their resumes and prepare them to enter the workforce with confidence.
To explore courses, certifications, and live training, visit PitchBook Pioneer.
About PitchBook, a Morningstar company As the pulse of private capital markets, PitchBook delivers trusted, real-time data, research, and technology to help investors, dealmakers, and innovators make decisions with confidence. Its products provide comprehensive information on companies, investors, funds, deals, and people, along with tools that help professionals analyze market activity and make informed decisions. Founded in 2007, PitchBook today serves more than 100,000 clients worldwide and is recognized as the leading source of private capital market intelligence. PitchBook has grown to over 3,000 employees across offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and other global locations. Since 2016, PitchBook has operated as a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc.
For more information, visit www.pitchbook.com.
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PR@pitchbook.com
Original: PitchBook Launches Pioneer Certification Program to the Public
US Market News
3月前
Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence UK 2026: Winners AnnouncedMarch 20, 2026 3:00 AM
Business Wire
Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced the winners for the Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence UK 2026. The awards recognise funds and asset managers that have served investors well over the long term and which Morningstar’s manager research team believes will be able to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns over time.
There are two types of Morningstar awards: the Morningstar Category Awards and the Morningstar Asset Manager Awards.
“Each year, the Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence shine a light on the investment strategies and managers that have consistently put investors first. Congratulations to our 2026 winners and finalists, who have demonstrated resilience, discipline, and a clear commitment to delivering long-term value in a volatile and fast-changing market. Drawing on our rigorous, forward-looking research, we are pleased to recognise those fund groups that continue to set the standard for investors in the UK,” said Monika Calay, Director of UK Manager Research at Morningstar.
The 2026 Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence award winners in the UK are:
Morningstar Category Awards
Winner
Best Europe ex-UK Equity Fund
JPM Europe Dynamic (ex-UK) C Net Acc
Best GBP Allocation
BNY Mellon Mlt-Asst Growth Inst W Acc
Best GBP Bond
Royal London Corporate Bond Z Inc
Best Global Equity Fund
L&G Global 100 Index F Inc
Best UK Equity
Fidelity Special Situations W Acc
Best Asset Manager Awards
Winner
Best Asset Manager
Dimensional
Methodology
These awards are determined by a combination of risk-adjusted medium- to long-term performance track records and Morningstar’s forward-looking rating for funds, the Morningstar Medalist Rating™ including its Parent pillar component. The Medalist Rating is set on a five-tier scale running from Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral and Negative at the share class level. The full methodology for the awards is available here.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $378 billion in AUMA as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on X @MorningstarInc.
Morningstar’s Manager Research Group
Morningstar’s Manager Research Group consists of various wholly owned subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. including, but not limited to, Morningstar Research Services LLC. Morningstar Manager Research provides independent, fundamental analysis on managed investment strategies. Morningstar views are expressed in the form of Morningstar Medalist Ratings, which are derived through research of three key pillars—People, Process, and Parent. The Morningstar Medalist Rating is the summary expression of Morningstar’s forward-looking analysis of investment strategies as offered via specific vehicles using a rating scale of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative. A global research team issues detailed research reports on strategies that span vehicle, asset class, and geography. Medalist Ratings are not statements of fact, nor are they credit or risk ratings, and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. A Medalist Rating is not intended to be nor is a guarantee of future performance. This press release is for informational purposes only; references to securities should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the securities.
Medalist Ratings are not statements of fact, nor are they credit or risk ratings, and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. A Medalist Rating is not intended to be nor is a guarantee of future performance. This press release is for informational purposes only; references to securities should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the securities.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
MORN-R
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260320091573/en/
Media Contact: Rebecca Absalom, rebecca.absalom@morningstar.com, +44 77 8780 2863
Original: Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence UK 2026: Winners Announced
US Market News
3月前
Morningstar, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of 50 Cents Per ShareMarch 13, 2026 4:15 PM
Business Wire
The board of directors of Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today declared a quarterly dividend of 50 cents per share, consistent with the dividend paid in January. The dividend is payable April 30, 2026, to shareholders of record as of April 3, 2026. Please contact investors@morningstar.com with any questions.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $378 billion in AUMA as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "aim," "committed," "consider," "estimate," "focus," "future," "goal," "is designed to," "maintain," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "possible," "potential," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "prospects," "continue," "strategy," "strive," "will," "would," "determine," "evaluate," or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, failing to achieve the anticipated benefits of the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) acquisition, failing to maintain and protect our brand, independence, and reputation; failure to prevent and/or mitigate cybersecurity events and the failure to protect confidential information, including personal information about individuals; changing economic conditions, including prolonged volatility, recessions, or downturns affecting the financial, data, and software sectors and global financial markets, fluctuating interest rates, and the impact of global trade policies; compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in or expansion of laws applicable to our regulated businesses; failing to innovate or streamline our product and service offerings or meet or anticipate our clients’ changing needs; the impact of artificial intelligence technologies on our business and reputation, and the legal risks as they are incorporated into our products and tools; failing to detect errors in our products or the failure of our products to perform properly due to defects, malfunctions, or similar problems; failing to recruit, develop, and retain qualified employees; failing to scale our operations, increase productivity in order to implement our business plans and strategies, including failing to manage costs related thereto; liability for any losses that result from errors in our automated advisory tools or errors in the use of the information and data we collect; inadequacy of our operational risk management and business continuity programs to address materially disruptive events; failure of our strategic transactions, acquisitions, divestitures, and investments in companies or technologies to yield expected business or financial benefits, negatively impacting our operating results and our ability to deliver long-term value to shareholders; triggering events for impairment of goodwill or assets; failing to maintain growth across our businesses due to changes in geopolitics and the regulatory landscape; failing to recognize revenue related to remaining performance obligations; liability relating to the information and data we collect, store, use, create, and distribute or the reports that we publish or are produced by our software products; the potential adverse effect of our indebtedness (and rising interest rates) on our cash flow and financial and operational flexibility; liability, costs, and reputational risks relating to environmental, social and governance considerations; our dependence on third-party service providers in our operations; inadequacy of our insurance coverage; challenges in accounting for tax complexities in the global jurisdictions which we operate in and their effect on our tax obligations and tax rates; the potential and impact of vendor consolidation and clients' strategic decisions to replace our products and services with in-house products and services; our ability to build and maintain short-term and long-term shareholder value and pay dividends to our shareholders; our ability to repurchase shares of our common stock; our ability to maintain existing business and renewal rates and to gain new business; the impact of recently issued accounting pronouncements on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosure; impact on our stock price due to market conditions, future sales of our common stock and fluctuations in our operating results; and failing to protect our intellectual property rights or claims of intellectual property infringement against us. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties, among others, can be found in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties, and assumptions in our future filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q, and 8-K.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-C
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Landon Hudson, +1 312 696-6037, newsroom@morningstar.com
Original: Morningstar, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of 50 Cents Per Share
US Market News
3月前
PitchBook Announces New Essential MCP Integration with Perplexity, Expanding Access to AI-Powered, Verifiable Market IntelligenceMarch 12, 2026 3:21 PM
Business Wire
Perplexity users can now surface PitchBook’s industry-trusted firmographic data with full source attribution
PitchBook, the leading private capital market intelligence platform, today announced a new partnership with Perplexity, the leading AI-answer engine. Through Perplexity’s new PitchBook Essential MCP server, users can now access PitchBook’s trusted firmographic intelligence directly within Perplexity’s conversational interface.
AI adoption continues to accelerate across financial services, but the ability to ask questions and receive answers powered by high-quality, comprehensive data is what drives better decision making and delivers meaningful ROI. PitchBook’s AI and machine learning strategy centers on pairing advanced technology with human insight to create one of the most comprehensive and dependable private market datasets in the industry. Perplexity’s answer engine retrieves and synthesizes information from authoritative sources in real-time, delivering citied, verifiable answers that are crucial for high-stakes financial decisions. Through this Essential Partner integration, Perplexity users can ask complex questions about companies and deals and receive clear, sourced insights supported by PitchBook’s intelligence.
“Together, PitchBook and Perplexity are expanding access to private market intelligence,” said Tom Van Buskirk, EVP of Technology & Engineering at PitchBook. “AI is most effective when it’s powered by the most accurate, high-quality data. Perplexity’s conversational interface opens new ways to explore information and pairing it with PitchBook’s insights helps professionals find the clarity they need to make confident decisions.”
With this integration, Perplexity users gain the ability to:
Surface company and deal information supported by PitchBook’s robust dataset
Receive high-level summaries with links to original PitchBook sources, enabling PitchBook users to easily explore underlying data
Ask targeted questions about firms, transactions, investors, and market themes
Explore private market trends through the tools they already rely on
“PitchBook’s data helps hundreds of thousands of investors make decisions with confidence every day,” said Dmitry Shevelenko, Chief Business Officer at Perplexity. “By bringing PitchBook’s trusted intelligence into Perplexity’s conversational interface, we’re enabling new ways to explore private markets, where professionals can conduct deep research, ask follow-up questions, and uncover connections they might not have found through traditional search.”
The Perplexity integration marks the latest milestone in PitchBook’s expanding network of AI partnerships, which include Anthropic, Farsight AI, Finster, Hebbia, Model ML, OpenAI, Rogo, and Writer. Together, these collaborations extend PitchBook’s intentional approach to working across the AI ecosystem, extending access to trusted private market intelligence wherever professionals choose to work.
To learn more about PitchBook’s AI capabilities and partnerships, click here.
About PitchBook, a Morningstar company As the pulse of private capital markets, PitchBook delivers trusted, real-time data, research, and technology to help investors, dealmakers, and innovators make decisions with confidence. Its products provide comprehensive information on companies, investors, funds, deals, and people, along with tools that help professionals analyze market activity and make informed decisions. Founded in 2007, PitchBook today serves more than 100,000 clients worldwide and is recognized as the leading source of private capital market intelligence. PitchBook has grown to over 3,000 employees across offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and other global locations. Since 2016, PitchBook has operated as a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc.
For more information, visit www.pitchbook.com.
About Perplexity
Perplexity is an AI-powered answer engine that draws from credible sources in real time to accurately answer questions with in-line citations, perform deep research, and more. Founded in 2022, the company's mission is to serve the world's curiosity by bridging the gap between traditional search engines and AI-driven interfaces. Each week, Perplexity answers more than 150 million questions globally. Perplexity is available in the app store and online at https://www.perplexity.com.
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PR@pitchbook.com
Original: PitchBook Announces New Essential MCP Integration with Perplexity, Expanding Access to AI-Powered, Verifiable Market Intelligence
US Market News
3月前
Morningstar Credit Analytics Launches Credit Models and ‘Bring Your Own Loan’ AnalysisMarch 12, 2026 7:30 AM
Business Wire
Morningstar Credit Analytics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), today launched a suite of enhancements to its commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) and commercial real estate (CRE) analytics platform, intended to enable issuers and investors to move from raw loan data to defensible credit analysis earlier in the transaction lifecycle. The release represents an expansion of Morningstar Credit Analytics’ broader credit modeling framework, designed to support consistent credit analysis across both structured and private credit markets.
This launch introduces CMBS Conduit and Agency Multifamily Credit Models alongside the Single-Asset Single Borrower (SASB) Credit Assessment Tool, delivering standardized loan- and pool-level risk measures using methodologies aligned with Morningstar DBRS, a SEC registered credit rating agency. The Bring Your Own Loan Analysis (BYOL) workflow enables users to upload internal loan data and run it through Morningstar Credit Analytics’ tools in minutes.
Faster Decisions, Earlier in the Process
Commercial real estate transactions increasingly require credit insight earlier in the process, as issuers and investors evaluate loan pools before deals are fully structured.
"Issuers and investors are under pressure to make faster decisions with greater confidence, often earlier in the lifecycle of a transaction," said Brian Grow, president of Morningstar Credit Analytics. "By combining credit ratings-aligned CMBS credit models with a streamlined Bring Your Own Loans workflow, we aim to give market participants a consistent framework for evaluating credit risk earlier in the process. This same framework is designed to scale across asset classes, supporting credit analysis across both securitized and private credit portfolios."
Credit Ratings-Aligned Models for Portfolio Selection and Credit Assessments
The CMBS Conduit and Agency Multifamily Credit Models deliver standardized loan- and pool-level credit risk measures, including probability of default, loss given default, and expected loss. The SASB Credit Assessment Tool provides quantitative sizing benchmarks for single-asset and large-loan transactions, including loan-to-value sizing thresholds and indicative capital structure attachment points. The BYOL workflow is designed to serve as the foundation for these tools. Users can upload their own loan tape, and the platform automatically validates, standardizes, and geocodes the data while benchmarking loans against Morningstar Credit Analytics’ CMBS dataset. Once validated, the loan pool can be analyzed through the Conduit, Agency Multifamily, or SASB frameworks.
Built on a Scalable Credit Modeling Framework
The same ratings-aligned analytical framework underpinning the structured CRE models also supports Morningstar Credit Analytics’ expanding private credit modeling capabilities. Morningstar Credit Analytics’ models leverage quantitative methodologies informed by Morningstar DBRS credit risk frameworks. This alignment can be particularly valuable for market participants who need analysis that will be relied on by counterparties, underwriters, or investment committees.
"This launch represents an important step in delivering a scalable credit modeling platform designed for modern credit markets," Grow said. "Our goal is to provide market participants with the tools to evaluate credit risk consistently, whether they are analyzing CMBS transactions, private credit exposures, or broader loan portfolios."
To learn more, visit https://hubs.la/Q045D-hm0
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $378 billion in AUMA as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.
About Morningstar Credit
Morningstar Credit provides investors with credit ratings, research, data, and credit analytics solutions that, we believe, contribute to the transparency of international and domestic credit markets. Morningstar Credit includes Morningstar DBRS and Morningstar Credit Analytics. For more information, visit credit.morningstar.com.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as “consider,” “future,” “maintain,” “may,” “expect,” “potential,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “will,” or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among other things, failing to innovate our product and service offerings or anticipate our clients’ changing needs. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our most recent Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-P
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Media Contact: Sarah Wirth, +1 312 696-6037, Newsroom@morningstar.com
Original: Morningstar Credit Analytics Launches Credit Models and ‘Bring Your Own Loan’ Analysis
US Market News
3月前
AI Megadeals and Capital Concentration Define 2025 for Female Founders Across US and EuropeMarch 5, 2026 6:00 AM
Business Wire
PitchBook, the leading private capital market intelligence provider, today released its 2025 US and European editions of the All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem reports, offering a comprehensive analysis of venture capital (VC) activity for companies with at least one female founder. Together, the findings reveal a venture market defined by capital concentration, rising valuations for scaled companies, and an outsized influence from artificial intelligence (AI).
Across both regions, 2025 reflected a venture market marked by tighter dealmaking and increased investor focus on mature, scaled companies. Deal counts declined as investors moved away from the rapid post-pandemic pace of investing, shifting capital into fewer, more targeted rounds. Companies that secured funding did so at higher valuations, reinforcing a broader trend of backing stronger, more resilient businesses. AI played a significant role, absorbing a disproportionate share of venture dollars and driving capital concentration at the top end of the market. Exit activity also improved, with total exit values rising and aggregate unicorn valuations reaching record highs – signaling stabilization after the 2022-2023 slowdown.
“Female founders are operating in a venture environment that is more selective and concentrated than we’ve seen in years,” said Joanna McGinley, Executive Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Initiatives at PitchBook. “Capital is flowing to companies that can demonstrate scale and resilience, but access to that capital remains uneven. Understanding where female founders are gaining ground, and where structural barriers persist, is critical to building durable, high-performing portfolios. This visibility builds pathways for more women to lead, invest and scale companies for the long term."
The structure and scale of this capital concentration, however, differed between the US and Europe. In the US, female founders captured record capital and an all-time high of total deal value, driven largely by AI megadeals and a reopening of exit markets, including increased IPO activity. Europe, by contrast, saw declining deal value and count, reflecting a more measured pace of capital deployment. While the US story centered on growth at scale, Europe’s environment emphasized selectivity, structural progress, and fewer but larger exit outcomes.
“Venture capital is undergoing its most meaningful shift since the post-pandemic surge,” said Annemarie Donegan, Senior Research Analyst at PitchBook. “Investors are doubling down on companies that can demonstrate scale and staying power, particularly in AI. For female founders, that dynamic creates significant upside at the top of the market, but access to that capital is more competitive than it’s been in years. The open question is whether the momentum we saw in 2025, from record capital to improving exit activity, reflects a more durable reset for the market, or continued concentration among a narrow group of megadeals.”
US Highlights
US VC-backed female-founded companies raised a record $73.6 billion in 2025, even as the total deal count declined.
Female founders capture 27.7 percent of total US VC deal value – an all-time high.
AI accounted for roughly two-thirds of all VC dollars invested in female-founded startups, with more than $30 billion coming from Scale AI and Anthropic alone.
Exit value more than doubled year-over-year, lifting female founders’ share of total US exit count to 25 percent.
Aggregate female-founded unicorn valuation reached a record high of $481 billion following a low in 2023.
Europe Highlights
European female-founded companies experienced declining deal value and count amid a continued pullback in megadeals.
Female-founded companies’ share of overall European VC deal activity trended downward year-over-year.
Despite fewer deals, median pre-money valuations rose across company cohorts, reflecting increased selectivity.
Exit activity shifted toward fewer but larger outcomes, with total exit value rising despite lower transaction counts.
Aggregate valuation for female-founded unicorns reached a record high, signaling continued exit potential.
To download the 2025 US All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem report, click here, and for the 2025 European All In: Female Founders in the VC Ecosystem report, click here.
About PitchBook, a Morningstar company As the pulse of private capital markets, PitchBook delivers trusted, real-time data, research, and technology to help investors, dealmakers, and innovators make decisions with confidence. Its products provide comprehensive information on companies, investors, funds, deals, and people, along with tools that help professionals analyze market activity and make informed decisions. Founded in 2007, PitchBook today serves more than 100,000 clients worldwide and is recognized as the leading source of private capital market intelligence. PitchBook has grown to over 3,000 employees across offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and other global locations. Since 2016, PitchBook has operated as a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc.
For more information, visit www.pitchbook.com.
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PR@pitchbook.com
Original: AI Megadeals and Capital Concentration Define 2025 for Female Founders Across US and Europe
US Market News
3月前
Morningstar Sustainalytics: Institutional Investors Signal Rising Demand for ESG Data Integration Amid Market MaturityMarch 3, 2026 9:29 AM
Business Wire
New global survey shows ESG and climate data moving from optional add-ons to core components of investment workflows.
Morningstar Sustainalytics, part of Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading global provider of ESG data, research, and ratings, today released findings from its inaugural State of ESG Data Survey, revealing a financial industry increasingly dependent on actionable sustainability information. Morningstar Sustainalytics clients surveyed cited ongoing challenges around data quality and coverage, increased demand for regulatory-aligned insights and a shift toward forward-looking climate and nature-related analytics.
The global quantitative survey collected responses from 145 financial market participants — including asset managers, banks, pension funds, wealth managers and other financial institutions — across EMEA, the Americas, and APAC.
Participants spanned a wide range of size, with 40% managing more than USD 50 billion in assets and 24% managing under USD 1 billion. EMEA accounted for the largest share of respondents (51%), reflecting the region’s strong regulatory momentum and advanced ESG practices.
David Pagliaro, president of Morningstar Sustainalytics, commented: “Our first State of ESG Data Survey shows that standardized ESG disclosures remain critical. However, investors increasingly need forward-looking insights – particularly on climate risks and nature impacts. Even with shifting political rhetoric in some markets, the underlying demand has not changed: investors want high-quality, comparable data to understand risks, support meeting regulatory obligations, and to help create long-term value.”
The survey reveals that institutional investors are embedding ESG and climate information directly into investment processes, risk management tools and regulatory reporting workflows.
Yet consistent obstacles remain:
47% cited gaps in ESG data coverage
41% suffer from data quality issues
40% pointed to inconsistencies across vendors
Forward-Looking Climate Metrics in Demand
Forward-looking information is also gaining prominence. While International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) disclosures (73%) and sustainable bond data (68%) remain must have data sets, transition risk models were the area most frequently identified as uniquely valuable (35%). These findings suggest that investors increasingly need predictive tools to support long-term climate resilience and scenario-based decision making.
Nearly half of respondents ranked fund-level reporting capabilities among their top three needs—underscoring the increasing complexity of regulatory disclosures and the demand for end-to-end data integration.
ESG Data in Private Markets & Alternative Asset Classes
Private markets were identified as one of the most challenging areas for ESG and climate data. As investors pursue a whole portfolio approach to sustainability, many are expanding beyond listed markets into private assets where data availability remains limited.
Alongside private market data needs, respondents highlighted rising demand for:
Regulation aligned datasets (58%)
Greenhouse gas emissions data (56%)
ESG risk ratings (49%)
With investors calling for deeper insights, stronger data foundations and more seamless integration, the State of ESG Data Survey 2025 underscores a market moving decisively toward maturity.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $378 billion in AUMA as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.
About Morningstar Sustainalytics
Morningstar Sustainalytics is a leading ESG data, research, and ratings firm that supports investors around the world with the development and implementation of responsible investment strategies. For more than 30 years, the firm has been at the forefront of developing high-quality, innovative solutions to meet the evolving needs of global investors. Today, Morningstar Sustainalytics works with hundreds of the world's leading asset managers and pension funds who incorporate ESG information and assessments into their investment processes. The firm also works with hundreds of companies and their financial intermediaries to help them consider material sustainability factors in policies, practices, and capital projects. Morningstar Sustainalytics has analysts around the world with varied multidisciplinary expertise across more than 40 industry groups. For more information, visit www.sustainalytics.com.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-R
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Louis Hogan, louis.hogan@morningstar.com, +44 753454 40330, Communications Manager Morningstar Sustainalytics
Original: Morningstar Sustainalytics: Institutional Investors Signal Rising Demand for ESG Data Integration Amid Market Maturity
US Market News
3月前
PitchBook Introduces Late-Stage Company Research Covering the World’s Leading Private CompaniesMarch 3, 2026 6:00 AM
Business Wire
Initial reports include a SpaceX analysis and an AI-focused bundle featuring Anthropic, Databricks, OpenAI, SSI, and xAI
PitchBook, the leading private capital market intelligence provider, today introduced Late-Stage Company Research, a new coverage area delivering dedicated, ongoing analysis of the world’s most influential private companies, beginning with an in-depth analysis of SpaceX and an AI-focused report examining Anthropic, Databricks, OpenAI, SSI, and xAI. Together, these reports apply public-market-style analysis to private companies that now rival public firms in scale and influence, offering clearer insight into performance, positioning, and market impact.
After years of postponed public offerings, IPO activity is regaining momentum for the first time since 2021, shifting attention back to late-stage private companies. At the same time, increased secondary activity and new investment structures are expanding access to these businesses, even as consistent, timely research remains limited. As scrutiny intensifies, investors, advisors, and corporate leaders need a clearer view of performance, valuation, and market positioning. PitchBook’s new coverage addresses that gap with detailed, analyst-driven research on late-stage unicorns.
“Late-stage private companies now rival public companies in scale, influence, and capital intensity, yet they haven’t been covered with the same consistency or depth,” said Paul Condra, Global Head of Private Markets Research at PitchBook. “As scrutiny intensifies and expectations evolve, investors are demanding greater transparency into performance, valuation, and competitive positioning. Consistent analysis is essential to evaluate these businesses with the rigor the market now demands.”
The first report, SpaceX Initiation Report: When Venus and Jupiter Align, provides an in-depth view of the company’s business model, revenue drivers, market dynamics, competitive landscape, and long-term growth opportunities. The analysis includes a proprietary bottom-up financial model for each segment, offering forward-looking revenue and profitability projections. It also presents a comprehensive valuation framework assessing how a potential IPO could compare with direct peers and the broader large-cap growth universe, providing investors with a disciplined approach to evaluating what could become one of the most significant IPOs in history.
In addition to the SpaceX report, PitchBook is publishing Ranking the AI Giants: A New Framework for the Frontier Five. The report introduces PitchBook’s AIBQ framework, a standardized scorecard designed to evaluate frontier AI companies on the fundamentals that drive long-term value, including capital efficiency, revenue quality, computing independence, governance optionality, and competitive durability. Applied across Anthropic, Databricks, OpenAI, SSI, and xAI, the framework provides investors with a consistent, data-driven approach to assessing business quality and understanding how valuations align with underlying performance.
Together, these reports mark the beginning of our initiative to cover the largest late-stage private companies across AI and non-AI sectors. In addition to company-specific reports, PitchBook will publish a quarterly Unicorn Tracker highlighting trends in valuation, fundraising activity, exits, and broader developments across the late-stage ecosystem.
This research is supported by PitchBook’s quarterly Unicorn Tracker and the Morningstar PitchBook US Unicorn Index, which provide a systematic view of valuation movements, capital flows, step-ups, time between rounds, and other indicators of private market health. Designed to support workflows ranging from deal sourcing and due diligence to valuation benchmarking and strategic planning, the research enables clients to apply consistent, data-driven analysis to the most influential private companies shaping global markets.
To download the report on SpaceX, click here.
About PitchBook, a Morningstar company As the pulse of private capital markets, PitchBook delivers trusted, real-time data, research, and technology to help investors, dealmakers, and innovators make decisions with confidence. Its products provide comprehensive information on companies, investors, funds, deals, and people, along with tools that help professionals analyze market activity and make informed decisions. Founded in 2007, PitchBook today serves more than 100,000 clients worldwide and is recognized as the leading source of private capital market intelligence. PitchBook has grown to over 3,000 employees across offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and other global locations. Since 2016, PitchBook has operated as a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc.
For more information, visit www.pitchbook.com.
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PR@pitchbook.com
Original: PitchBook Introduces Late-Stage Company Research Covering the World’s Leading Private Companies
US Market News
4月前
Morningstar Names Scott Brown as President of Direct Platform BusinessFebruary 19, 2026 7:30 AM
Business Wire
Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investing insights, has appointed Scott Brown as President, Direct Platform, effective March 2, 2026. Brown will lead Morningstar’s largest business segment and a core growth engine, with flagship products such as Morningstar Direct, Morningstar Data, and Direct Advisory Suite (the latest evolution of Advisor Workstation) and capabilities such as manager research and ratings embedded within it.
Brown brings more than two decades of experience building and scaling data platforms, modernizing legacy systems, and delivering technology-led and AI-enabled products that support growth and operational excellence. He joins Morningstar from Experian, where he led a multi-billion-dollar portfolio across the Financial Services & Data and Marketing Services divisions, delivering technology-enabled growth.
While at Experian, Brown advanced the Ascend platform with AI product innovation, including the launch of Ascend Ops, an AI model deployment capability that was quickly adopted by over 50 institutions. He also oversaw the introduction of the Credit + Cashflow Score, the first combined credit score using consumer-permissioned banking data. Earlier in his career at Nielsen, he modernized its flagship audience measurement product line and spearheaded its cloud transformation.
“Direct Platform is central to how we empower clients with our unique intellectual property,” said Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor. “Scott has repeatedly scaled large data businesses, unified platforms, and built great products that translate into real client value. I expect his appointment to strengthen our ability to innovate at a time when demand for data and research content is surging, and as we grow our offerings to help investors navigate the increased choice and opportunities they face.”
At Morningstar, Brown plans to build on the strong foundation in place, advance platform capabilities, and deliver product enhancements faster across key client segments in asset and wealth management. He has a strong track record of unifying complex data ecosystems, including integrating streaming and television measurement at Nielsen and combining credit and banking data at Experian. This experience aligns with Morningstar’s vision to unify public and private market data, analytics, and tools for an AI-enabled marketplace.
“Morningstar has a clear mission and a strong foundation of trusted data and independent insights, which is a significant competitive advantage,” Brown said. “The opportunity is to accelerate how that advantage is delivered through a connected platform, faster product innovation, and AI-enabled capabilities that help clients navigate increasingly complex markets. I'm excited to work alongside the team to execute the vision and scale this business to the next level."
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $378 billion in AUMA as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as “will,” "future," "goal," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "prospects," "continue," "strategy," "strive," "would," or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks relating to future plans, innovation, growth, capabilities, product enhancements, strategies and vision.
A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties, among others, can be found in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our future filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-C
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Stephanie Lerdall, newsroom@morningstar.com
Original: Morningstar Names Scott Brown as President of Direct Platform Business
US Market News
4月前
Morningstar Retirement and Alta Trust Company Launch Foundation Series Collective Investment Trusts to Expand Access to Professionally Managed Retirement PortfoliosFebruary 19, 2026 6:59 AM
Business Wire
Six standardized, distribution-ready CITs aim to reduce friction, broaden access, and modernize how retirement services are delivered
Morningstar Retirement, part of Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced a strategic collaboration with Alta Trust Company and a group of leading asset managers to launch the Foundation Series Collective Investment Trusts (CITs), a set of six multi-manager portfolios designed to broaden access to institutional-quality investment services for retirement plans of all sizes.
Built on Morningstar’s managed accounts portfolio framework, the Foundation Series CITs are designed to simplify implementation for recordkeepers by eliminating the need for additional build work. The standardized approach also supports a recordkeeper’s existing stable value fund, enabling plan sponsors to offer more complete and customizable investment lineups without added operational demands.
“The Foundation Series CITs accelerate the industry’s shift toward scalable personalization,” said Nathan Voris, head of go-to-market and marketing at Morningstar Retirement. “By reducing adoption barriers and standardizing the building blocks used within our managed accounts, we’re giving more plans a clearer, more streamlined path to delivering tailored, professionally managed investment experiences for their participants.”
Alta Trust will serve as the trustee, CIT sponsor, and administrator for the Foundation Series. Morningstar Retirement will lead portfolio design, fund curation, and ongoing oversight, drawing from a defined universe of funds offered by nine distinguished asset managers—Columbia Threadneedle, Federated Hermes, First Eagle, Guggenheim Investments, Heitman, Invesco, MFS Investment Management, Neuberger Berman, and PIMCO. This multi-manager structure stands apart from single-manager or proprietary CIT offerings, delivering broader diversification, independent oversight, and access to a sophisticated blend of institutional investment expertise.
“These distribution-ready CITs give recordkeepers a consistent format that works with existing platforms—including stable value funds—so plan sponsors can offer institutional, multi-manager portfolios without bespoke builds," said Brian Harriman, director of retirement at Alta Trust Company. “Together with Morningstar, we’re enabling broader access to professionally managed investment solutions and helping advance innovation across the industry.”
The Foundation Series CITs are now available to receive funds. For more information, visit www.trustalta.com/foundationseriesCIT.
About Morningstar Retirement
Morningstar Retirement empowers investor success by providing research- and technology-driven products and services that help individuals reach their retirement goals. With advisory services provided by Morningstar Investment Management LLC, a registered investment adviser, Morningstar Retirement supports and collaborates with workplace retirement plans and other industry players to differentiate their services, stay competitive, and reach new markets, all in service of building a better retirement system. Morningstar Retirement not only helps people save for the retirement they want but helps them make their money last once they get there.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $378 billion in AUMA as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.
About Alta Trust Company
Alta Trust Company is a South Dakota chartered trust company that acts as the trustee of Foundation Series CITs. The Foundation Series CITs are not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Declaration of Trust for the Foundation Series CITs describes the procedures for admission to and withdrawal from the CITs. The Declaration of Trust and the Investor Disclosure, sometimes referred to as the Fund’s Employee Benefit Summary, together with the fact sheet, describe each CIT in the series. A copy of these documents may be obtained by contacting Alta Trust at info@trustalta.com.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-P
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260209182838/en/
Landon Hudson, +1 312 697-6037 or newsroom@morningstar.com
Original: Morningstar Retirement and Alta Trust Company Launch Foundation Series Collective Investment Trusts to Expand Access to Professionally Managed Retirement Portfolios
US Market News
4月前
Morningstar Completes Acquisition of CRSP and Extends Relationship with VanguardFebruary 2, 2026 4:15 PM
Business Wire
The CRSP integration unites two trusted sources of market insight, reinforcing a shared commitment to transparency, quality, and investor-focused solutions and solidifying Morningstar’s position as a top-tier global index provider.
Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, has completed its previously announced acquisition of the Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP), a premier provider of historical stock market data and indexes, from the University of Chicago, for $365 million, subject to customary adjustments.
The acquisition of CRSP brings the CRSP Market Indexes, benchmarks for over $3 trillion in U.S. equities spanning market capitalizations, investment styles, and sectors, into the Morningstar Indexes family, making Morningstar the leading provider of broad US-equity benchmarks that cover the entire market and are the mainstay of retirement plans in the US. Long favored and popularized by the late Jack Bogle for their comprehensive coverage of the “total market,” their unique methodology has been shown to lower transaction costs for investors.
The CRSP indexes will be rebranded under the Morningstar name. Additionally, the CRSP Research Data Products, known for their research quality, academic rigor, historical depth and accuracy, further strengthen Morningstar’s research and data capabilities for a wider set of clients and markets.
Morningstar also announced today an agreement with Vanguard that confirms the continued use of CRSP indexes to underpin a range of Vanguard funds, including the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX and VTI), and Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund (VIMAX and VO).
“The addition of CRSP furthers our efforts to disrupt the costly, entrenched index industry with indexes that deliver more value at global scale to benefit investors. With over $4.2 trillion in assets linked, including over 370 investment products, Morningstar offers a better alternative to legacy index providers,” said Amelia Furr, president of Morningstar Indexes. “By working together with Vanguard, Morningstar Indexes will continue to serve as the foundation for some of the world's largest funds and advance low-cost investing for millions of investors.”
“For nearly 50 years, Vanguard has been at the forefront of index investing,” said Rodney Comegys, CIO of Vanguard Capital Management and head of global equity at Vanguard. “Our agreement with Morningstar reinforces our steadfast commitment to delivering low costs, broad diversification and strong performance for investors. The academically rigorous methodology of the CRSP indexes provides a world-class foundation for long-term success, empowering clients to pursue their investment goals with confidence.”
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $369 billion in AUMA as of Sept. 30, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.
About Morningstar Indexes
Morningstar Indexes was built to keep up with the evolving needs of investors—and to be a leading-edge advocate for them. Morningstar's rich heritage as a transparent, investor-focused leader in data and research uniquely equips Morningstar Indexes to support individuals, institutions, wealth managers and advisors in navigating investment opportunities across all major asset classes, styles, and strategies. In February 2026, the acquisition of CRSP brought the CRSP Market Indexes – benchmarks for over $3 trillion in US equities – into the Morningstar Indexes family. Additionally, CRSP’s Research Data Products, renowned for their academic rigor, historical depth and accuracy, further enhances Morningstar’s equity benchmark and data capabilities. This powerful combination unites two trusted sources of market insight, reinforcing a shared commitment to transparency, quality and investor-focused solutions. Please visit indexes.morningstar.com for more information.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as “will,” "aim," "committed," "consider," "estimate," "future," "goal," "is designed to," "maintain," "may," "might," "objective," "ongoing," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "possible," "potential," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "predict," "prospects," "continue," "strategy," "strive," "will," "would," "determine," "evaluate," or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, failing to achieve the anticipated benefits of the CRSP acquisition, including the Vanguard agreement, failing to maintain and protect our brand, independence, and reputation; failure to prevent and/or mitigate cybersecurity events and the failure to protect confidential information, including personal information about individuals; compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in laws applicable to our regulated businesses; failing to innovate our product and service offerings or meet or anticipate our clients’ changing needs; impact of artificial intelligence technologies on our business and reputation, and the legal risks as they are incorporated into our products and tools; failing to detect errors in our products or the failure of our products to perform properly due to defects, malfunctions or similar problems; failing to recruit, develop, and retain qualified employees; prolonged volatility or downturns affecting the financial sector, global financial markets, and the global economy and the effect on our revenue from asset-based fees and our credit ratings business; failing to scale our operations, increase productivity in order to implement our business plans and strategies; liability for any losses that result from errors in our automated advisory tools or errors in the use of the information and data we collect; inadequacy of our operational risk management and business continuity programs to address materially disruptive events; failure of our strategic transactions, acquisitions, divestitures and investments in companies or technologies to yield expected business or financial benefits, negatively impacting our operating results and our ability to deliver long-term value to shareholders; failing to maintain growth across our businesses due to changes in geopolitics and the regulatory landscape; liability relating to the information and data we collect, store, use, create, and distribute or the reports that we publish or are produced by our software products; the potential adverse effect of our indebtedness on our cash flow and financial and operational flexibility; liability, costs and reputational risks relating to environmental, social and governance considerations; our dependence on third-party service providers in our operations; inadequacy of our insurance coverage; challenges in accounting for tax complexities in the global jurisdictions which we operate in and their effect on our tax obligations and tax rates; the potential and impact of vendor consolidation and clients' strategic decisions to replace our products and services with in-house products and services; our ability to build and maintain short-term and long-term shareholder value and pay dividends to our shareholders; our ability to maintain existing business and renewal rates and to gain new business; the impact of recently issued accounting pronouncements on our consolidated financial statements and related disclosure; impact on our stock price due to future sales of our common stock and fluctuations in our operating results; and failing to protect our intellectual property rights or claims of intellectual property infringement against us.
A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties, among others, can be found in our filings with the SEC, including our most recent Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our future filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K.
©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-C
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260202971192/en/
Tim Benedict, +1 203 339-1912, tim.benedict@morningstar.com
Sarah Wirth, +1 312 244-7358 or sarah.wirth@morningstar.com
Original: Morningstar Completes Acquisition of CRSP and Extends Relationship with Vanguard
ICEQUITY
15年前
MORN Morningstar Identifies Likely Takeover Candidates Across Nine Sectors; Publishes M&A Outlook Report for 2011
Date : 01/20/2011 @ 1:34PM
Source : PR Newswire
Stock : Morningstar (MM) (MORN)
Quote : 54.19 0.66 (1.23%) @ 7:22AM
Morningstar Identifies Likely Takeover Candidates Across Nine Sectors; Publishes M&A Outlook Report for 2011
Morningstar (MM) (NASDAQ:MORN)
Historical Stock Chart
1 Month : December 2010 to January 2011
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Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today published its Merger & Acquisition Outlook for 2011, a comprehensive research report that outlines merger and acquisition trends by sector, identifies the 100 most likely takeover candidates across Morningstar's equity coverage universe, highlights the likely acquirers, and examines the implications of merger and acquisition activity for bondholders.
"While global merger and acquisition activity has been on the decline over the last few years, we observed the inklings of a revival in 2010 and expect both the number and size of deals to substantially increase in 2011," said RJ Hottovy, director of equity research for consumer stocks and editor of the report. "We expect some of the key M&A themes to include interest in emerging markets, companies that have mastered a unique niche in their respective industries, and the ability to generate free cash flow."
Morningstar equity analysts identified approximately 100 takeover targets across nine sectors: banking, basic materials, consumer, energy, healthcare, industrials, technology/communication services, and utilities. Potential takeover candidates for each sector were determined by unique and proprietary scoring systems for each sector, based on industry-specific drivers of merger and acquisition activity as well as factors such as free cash flow, management, and capital structure.
Morningstar then examined its list of potential takeover candidates to identify the most compelling stocks for 2011, selecting companies that are the most attractively priced based on their price/fair value ratio and ranking in their respective, sector-specific potential takeover candidate list.
According to Morningstar, the top 10 potential takeover candidates in 2011 are:
* Actelion
* American Eagle
* Clearwire Corporation
* Cloud Peak Energy
* Constellation Energy
* Leap Wireless
* Myriad Genetics
* Petrohawk Energy
* Range Resources
* SunTrust Banks
To view the executive summary of Morningstar's Merger & Acquisition Outlook for 2011 report, please visit: http://global.morningstar.com/M&AOutlook2011.
Morningstar's report also includes a section devoted to Footnoted, a unit of Morningstar that includes Footnoted.com and the Footnoted Pro service. Footnoted released a list of potential takeover candidates for 2011, based on its analysis of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings. Morningstar acquired the Footnoted business in February 2010.
Footnoted analysts combed through SEC filings, looking for signals that could point to a potential deal, including seemingly innocuous items such as new employment contracts or director and executive changes.
"In 2010, we identified that there were pre-merger signals at more than 40 companies that later announced deals, based on information buried in their SEC filings," said Michelle Leder, editor and founder of Footnoted. "Finding these subtle signals isn't as easy at it sounds. And sometimes, it takes a lot of time for deals to materialize. For example, in March 2009, we found and reported on some interesting disclosures in Jo-Ann Stores' filings that suggested the company might be preparing for an acquisition. Then in December 2010, a deal was announced to take Jo-Ann Stores private."
Footnoted's takeover candidates for 2011 are (in alphabetical order):
* Abiomed
* Copano Energy
* Infinera
* Lawson Software
* Leap Wireless
* LKQ Corp.
* Pride International
* Select Medical Holdings
* Stage Stores
* Smurfit-Stone Container
To view the full report on Footnoted's takeover candidates for 2011, please visit: http://global.morningstar.com/FootnotedM&ACandidates2011.
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 approximately 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.
MORN-R
Media Contact:
Nadine Youssef, 312-696-6601 or nadine.youssef@morningstar.com
SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.
GuruTrader
17年前
Morningstar Acquires Equity Stake in PitchBook Data, Inc., Private Equity Data Provider
Press Release
Source: Morningstar, Inc.
On Monday September 28, 2009, 10:18 am EDT
Buzz up! 0 Print.Companies:Morningstar Inc.
CHICAGO, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN - News), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced that it has acquired a minority equity stake in PitchBook Data, Inc. Based in Seattle, PitchBook offers detailed data and information about private equity transactions, investors, companies, limited partners, and service providers. Liz Kirscher, president of Morningstar's data services business, will join PitchBook's board of directors. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Related Quotes
Symbol Price Change
MORN 47.31 +0.81
{"s" : "morn","k" : "c10,l10,p20,t10","o" : "","j" : ""} "Private equity investments represent a significant asset pool and have been attracting increasing investor interest because of their low correlation with the stock market," Kirscher said. "PitchBook's unique research and data collection techniques allow the company to provide private equity information that is difficult to find anywhere else. Investing in the company will allow Morningstar to work with PitchBook to continue to grow and develop its offerings, and it advances our goal of providing comprehensive coverage of the investing universe."
Founded in March 2007, PitchBook's primary products include online and print publications that track and analyze all stages of private equity transactions -- from companies and investors to service providers. PitchBook's research team also investigates and compiles detailed transaction information, including terms and structures, amounts, valuations, and multiples for small-, mid- and large-market deals across all industries. In the coming months, Morningstar expects to incorporate general information about U.S. private equity firms and funds from the PitchBook database into Morningstar Direct(SM), the company's institutional research platform.
"Providing private equity professionals and advisors with innovative tools and intelligence is our goal at PitchBook," said John Gabbert, CEO and founder of PitchBook. "We share a common mission and common values with Morningstar -- providing high-quality, comprehensive information, data, and analysis that allow people to make better-informed investing decisions. Morningstar also has a great deal of experience and expertise in data collection and analysis, which we will be able to leverage as we continue to grow our business."
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 nearly 325,000 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 19 countries and minority ownership positions in companies based in three other countries.
About PitchBook Data, Inc.
PitchBook is an independent research firm dedicated to providing premium data, news, and analysis to the private equity industry. As a specialty-focused information resource, PitchBook's core strength is its ability to meticulously collect, organize, and analyze hard-to-find private equity deal data.
©2009 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
MORN-C
Media Contact:
Alexa Auerbach, or alexa.auerbach@morningstar.com
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