Morningstar, Inc.

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Morningstar, Inc.
Type Public (NASDAQ: MORN)
Genre Financial Services
Founded Chicago (1984)
Founder Joe Mansueto
Headquarters Chicago, IL, United States
Industry Financial Services
Products www.morningstar.com
Revenue ▲ US$435.1 million (2007) [1]
Operating income ▲ US$117.3 million (2007)[1]
Net income ▲ US$73.9 million (2007)[1]
Employees approx. 1,440 (2006)[2]
Website corporate.morningstar.com

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN) is an independent investment research company based in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

Contents

[edit] Businesses

The company offers Internet-, software-, and print-based products and services for individuals, financial advisors, and institutional clients. Morningstar provides data on more than 125,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and ETFs. The company has operations in 16 countries.

Morningstar created its Morningstar Rating rating service, Morningstar Style Box and other proprietary measures in order to help individual investors understand their investments. Morningstar provides free tools to individual investors on each of its regional websites.

Morningstar representative Don Phillips also figured prominently in the 2004 Senate hearings on how to correct some actions performed by many investment companies, brokerage companies, and ultimately mutual fund companies with respect to market-timing arbitrage.

[edit] History

Founder Joe Mansueto initially had the idea for Morningstar in 1982 while reviewing mutual fund annual reports he had requested from several prominent fund managers[3]. However, it was only after a year working as a stock analyst for Harris Associates, seeing the fund industry and potential competitors up close, that he was convinced that the opportunity was there[3][4]. Morningstar was subsequently founded in 1984 from his one-bedroom Chicago apartment with an initial investment of US$80,000[5]. The name Morningstar is taken from the last sentence in Walden, a book by Henry David Thoreau; "the sun is but a morning star"[5][6].

In July 1999 Morningstar accepted an investment of US$91 million from SoftBank in return for a 20% stake in the company. The two companies had the previous year formed a joint venture in Japan [7][6].

Morningstar's initial public offering occurred on May 3, 2005, with 7,612,500 shares at $18.50 each[8]. The manner in which Morningstar went public is notable. They elected to follow Google's footsteps and use the dutch auction method rather than the traditional method. This allowed individual investors to bid on the price of the stock, and allowed all investors equal access.

As of March 2007 Joe Mansueto owned approximately 70% of the outstanding shares in Morningstar.[9]

[edit] Corporate identity

Morningstar's current logo is notable in that it was designed by legendary graphic designer Paul Rand. Mansueto sought Rand out in 1989 after deciding that the company's design standards needed to be improved, and that the first step would be a redesign of their logo[10]. After several phone calls, letters and finally a trip to meet Rand in person, Mansueto convinced him to work on the logo, which was completed within four months[10]. The new design features the "o" in Morningstar appearing as a rising sun, which is a nod to the quote that inspired the company's name[5]. While the fee for this work ($50,000) was a significant amount at the time for the company, Mansueto considers it "one of our most valuable assets"[10].

[edit] Acquisitions

Since 2003 Morningstar has undertaken several acquisitions which have expanded the breadth and depth of its product offerings.

Asset Acquired Acquired From Date Announced Date Completed Reported Cost
mPower.com, Inc Privately Held May 30, 2003[11] July 2, 2003[12] Not Disclosed
ePiper Separate Account Database Pensions & Investments September 7, 2004[13] Not Disclosed Not Disclosed
VARDS Finetre Corporation January 11, 2005[14] January 4, 2005[14] US$9 million
Ibbotson Associates Privately Held December 12, 2005[15] March 1, 2006[16] US$83 million
Aspect Huntley Unknown July 2, 2006[17] July 25, 2006[18] AU$30 million
Institutional Hedge Fund & Separate Account Database Division InvestorForce, Inc. July 17, 2006[19] August 1, 2006[20] US$10 million
Fund Data Business (prev. Micropal & Assirt) Standard & Poor's February 22, 2007[21]

[22]

 March 16, 2007[23]

[24]

 US$55 million
Hemscott data, media & investor relations businesses Ipreo Holdings LLC December 17, 2007[25] January 9, 2008[26] US$51.6 million

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Morningstar, Inc. Reports Fourth-Quarter, Full-Year 2007 Financial Results. Retrieved on February 24, 2008.
  2. ^ Morningstar 2006 Annual Report. Retrieved on February 24, 2008.
  3. ^ a b Everything I Know, I Learned from Warren Buffett, Corporate Culture Article - Inc. Article. Retrieved on May 3, 2007.
  4. ^ Joe Mansueto and Bill Nygren: The Importance of Having Conviction. Retrieved on May 3, 2007.
  5. ^ a b c USATODAY.com - Can he turn magazine bust into a boom?. Retrieved on May 3, 2007.
  6. ^ a b A star is reborn after shake-up. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
  7. ^ Company News; Softbank says it will invest $91 million in Morningstar. Retrieved on May 3, 2007.
  8. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on May 3, 2007.
  9. ^ Morningstar Investor Q&A - March 2007. Retrieved on May 3, 2007.
  10. ^ a b c Corporate Design Foundation - @issue journal. Retrieved on May 21, 2007.
  11. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  12. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  13. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  14. ^ a b Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  15. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  16. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  17. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  18. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  19. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  20. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  21. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  22. ^ Standard & Poor's Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  23. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  24. ^ Standard & Poor's Press Release. Retrieved on April 21, 2007.
  25. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on February 24, 2008.
  26. ^ Morningstar Press Release. Retrieved on February 24, 2008.
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