Morningstar Announces Retirement Income Strategist
CHICAGO, IL, October 26, 2006 -- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today introduced Morningstar® Retirement Income StrategistSM, a Web-based financial planning tool focused specifically on helping advisors create comprehensive analyses for clients who are nearing or in retirement. Retirement Income Strategist, which is available to institutions for use by financial advisors and registered representatives, combines Ibbotson Associates' Wealth Forecasting Engine with Morningstar's investment research, investor-friendly design and technology.
Ibbotson Associates, which Morningstar acquired in March 2006, is a leading authority on asset allocation. Morningstar and Ibbotson both have extensive experience in developing tools for advisors and institutions to help clients save for their retirement years. Now, with the coming retirement boom, the companies have developed a suite of offerings including research, educational materials, tools, and custom services for advisors and institutions to help investors who are retired or nearing retirement.
"The baby boom generation is approaching retirement in record numbers and they are worrying about whether their savings will last," said Joe Mansueto, chairman and CEO of Morningstar. "More than any previous generation, baby boomers are assuming a greater responsibility for funding their own retirement. Yet they are also living longer, which may stretch their savings. Retirement Income Strategist is our most sophisticated planning tool for advisors that identifies whether an individual's savings will last during retirement and explores alternative scenarios for sustaining income during retirement."
Key features of Retirement Income Strategist include:
- Methodology and capital markets assumptions from Ibbotson Associates
- Tax-sensitive and inflation-adjusted Monte Carlo forecasting, powered by Ibbotson Associates' Wealth Forecasting Engine, calculates the chance of meeting income and estate goals and forecasts year-by-year projections of wealth and income sources versus essential and lifestyle expenses
- Flexible workflow process that allows advisors to create more- or less-comprehensive retirement income analyses depending on a client's level of need and advisors' available time
- Customized cash flow model accounts for Social Security, pensions, required minimum distributions, and other income streams, income annuities, essential and lifestyle expenses, extraordinary expenses, stages of retirement, and other financial goals
- Extensive "what-if" scenario modeling of multiple variables, such as asset allocation/location, Social Security and pension elections, and saving more
- Quick Wizard modeling of the impact of retiring later, working part-time, or reducing lifestyle expenses
- Client reports:
- One-page Scenario Report summarizes the chance of meeting retirement goals, as well as projections of wealth and income over time
- Fifteen-page Comprehensive Report compares base case and recommended scenarios, and outlines investor implementation actions
- Unique Morningstar educational content on retirement risks, including PowerPoint slides suitable for seminar presentations and brochures for investors
- Configuration options for institutions including co-branding, asset classes, and capital markets assumptions
Retirement Income Strategist is part of Morningstar® Advisor Focused Solutions, a series of research, data and technology workflows that institutions may license to help their advisors complete specific tasks. Advisor Focused Solutions are available as single packages for integration with a firm's existing systems, or can be delivered through Morningstar® Advisor WorkstationSM Enterprise Edition for a customized investment platform.
Morningstar's Retirement Income Strategist follows the May 2006 launch of the company's Retirement Income Education CenterSM, a hosted Web site offering educational content and tools for financial advisors affiliated with institutions.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in the United States and in major international markets. 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 145,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles. The company has operations in 13 countries and minority ownership interests in companies in three other countries.
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