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| Main Help Contents |
 How Can I Buy Morningstar Products?
How Can I Get Fund(s) Added To Morningstar's Database?
How Can I Change My Contact Details With Morningstar?
How Often Is Data Updated On Morningstar's Database?
How Do Morningstar Categories Work?
How Does Morningstar Categorise Multi-Sector Funds?
What Are Morningstar Indices?
How Does Morningstar Calculate Fund Performance?
How Are Morningstar Ratings Calculated?
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How Can I Buy Morningstar Products?
If you're an existing Morningstar client, you can either contact HelpDesk on +64 9 915 6770 or email helpdesk.nz@morningstar.com. If you're not already a Morningstar client, and you'd like to know more about the value our products and services can add to your business, please contact us at the address details on right. |
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How Can I Get Fund(s) Added To Morningstar's Database?
Please contact us at the address details on right. |
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How Can I Change My Contact Details With Morningstar?
Please contact us at the address details on right. |
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How Often Is Data Updated On Morningstar's Database?
Data is updated on Morningstar's database as frequently as it is provided by fund managers. Most funds' unit prices are updated daily or weekly, while fund asset allocations are generally updated monthly. Most funds' performance data is calculated monthly (see below). |
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| Please contact Morningstar (see above) with more detailed questions about frequency of data updates. |
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How Do Morningstar Categories Work?
Morningstar Categories group similar funds together, so that funds in the same Category can be considered reasonable substitutes for the purposes of portfolio construction. |
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| Grouping similar-style funds together in discrete Morningstar Categories ensures investment styles are treated equally, and helps investors and advisers select and combine funds in ways more likely to translate into true portfolio diversification. |
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| Please contact Morningstar (see above) with more detailed questions about Morningstar Categories. |
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How Does Morningstar Categorise Multi-Sector Funds?
The Morningstar Categories for multi-sector or balanced funds are based on the multi-sector funds' underlying asset allocations. |
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| Multi-Sector Conservative - this Category contains funds with up to and including 20.0 percent of their assets in the growth asset classes of property, New Zealand and international shares. |
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| Multi-Sector Moderate - this Category contains funds with 20.0 - 40.0 percent of their assets in the growth asset classes of property and international shares. |
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| Multi-Sector Balanced - this Category contains funds with 40.0 - 60.0 percent of their assets in the growth asset classes of property and international shares. |
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| Multi-Sector Growth - this Category contains funds with 60.0 - 80.0 percent of their assets in the growth asset classes of property and international shares. |
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| Multi-Sector Aggressive - this Category contains funds with more than 80.0 percent of their assets in the growth asset classes of property and international shares. |
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| Please contact Morningstar (see above) with more detailed questions about Multi-Sector Morningstar Categories. |
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What Are Morningstar Indices?
Morningstar Indices are a useful way to evaluate how a fund has performed compared with its direct peers - similar investment options offered by different fund managers. |
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| Morningstar Indices are based on Morningstar Categories - peer groups of similar funds (see above). The Morningstar Index is an average of the returns from all the funds in a Morningstar Category. |
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| Please contact Morningstar (see above) with more detailed questions about Morningstar Indices. |
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How Does Morningstar Calculate Fund Performance?
Morningstar has two major fund performance calculation methodologies: month-end performance, and weekly performance. |
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Month-end fund performance
Month-end fund performance calculations are based on a fund's latest-available month-end unit price, with any cents per unit (CPU) distributions reinvested, to get a total return figure. This means that the month-end total return data has two components: an income return, based on the CPU information; and a capital return, which is a measure of the fund's unrealised and realised (but non-distributed) gains for a given period. |
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| Once a fund's month-end performance has been calculated, meaningful fund peer group and benchmark comparisons can be made using Morningstar's analytical tools. Month-end fund performance data is also a key component in many risk-adjusted return and ratings calculations, which are designed to help investors and their advisers make informed investment decisions. |
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Weekly fund performance
Fund performance figures published by Morningstar in newspapers and magazines are, where possible, based on the latest-available unit price within the previous week for funds when the tables are generated and delivered. In other words, this means the latest-available unit prices received by Morningstar during the week before the calculation and distribution of the tables to the newspapers. |
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| This is because Morningstar's aim is to publish as up-to-date fund performance reporting as possible, to assist investors and their advisers to base their decisions on timely, latest-available information. The performance figures are therefore based on the change to that latest-available unit price from the equivalent unit price in the equivalent week one and three years prior. |
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| Where a fund manager will not or cannot supply at least a daily or weekly unit price within that period, Morningstar's database default to the latest-available month-end fund performance figure which has been calculated, audited, and published by Morningstar (see above). This ensures that where possible, if at least a daily or weekly unit price is not available, the performance figures published are consistent with Morningstar's month-end fund performance reporting. These returns are marked with the *. |
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| Please contact Morningstar (see above) with more detailed questions about fund performance calculations. |
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How Are Morningstar Ratings Calculated?
Morningstar Ratings from one to five stars are based on a fund's Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return ('MRAR') measure, and used by Morningstar globally. |
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| MRAR is motivated by 'expected utility' theory, whereby an investor ranks alternative portfolios using the mathematical expectation of a function (called the 'utility' function) of the end value of each portfolio. With this basis in expected utility theory, investors are firstly, more concerned about a possible poor outcome than an unexpectedly good outcome; and secondly, willing to give up some portion of their expected return in exchange for greater certainty of return. |
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| So how does it work? Morningstar calculates each fund's three- and five-year MRAR measures, compared with the risk-free rate as measured by the New Zealand 90-Day Bank Bill tax paid rate, provided there are enough monthly returns for these periods (36 and 60 month-ends, respectively). |
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| A fund's overall Morningstar Rating is a 60:40 combination of three- and five-year Morningstar Ratings, drawn from the MRAR measures for these periods. This mix rewards consistent good performance over an extended timeframe, and is less subject to short-term variations in fund performance. |
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| Ultimately, this means that a fund with a four- or five-star Morningstar Rating has produced better returns for lower volatility than a fund with a one- or two-star Morningstar Rating. |
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| Morningstar Ratings are recalculated and republished in the second week of each month. |
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| Please contact Morningstar (see above) with more detailed questions about Morningstar Ratings. |
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