AWS Support Resources

Did you spot the latest Morningstar®U.K. Market Performance Chart in last week’s Investment Week or Professional Adviser magazine?

If you haven’t seen it before, the annual chart is a historical snapshot of how various asset classes have behaved since 1970 including how economic indicators and political events have influenced investment performance historically.  For example, the U.K. stock market experienced severe declines in 1973–1974 (oil crisis) and 2008–2009 (subprime crisis) that took a significant time to recover.

It also shows the growth of £100 invested in five major asset classes (U.K. equities, U.S. equities, European equities, U.K. bonds, and cash), across three hypothetical portfolios (adventurous, moderate, and cautious), plus inflation since 1970.

Click here to see a chart sample. You can find more general information here.

Posted in: IFA News and Commentary, Morningstar, Press Releases, Research,

Starting last month the Ongoing Charges figure has replaced the Total Expense Ratio (TER) which had been used to measure the impact of costs relating to the management and operations of a closed-end fund. The calculation for Ongoing Charges takes into consideration recent regulatory and market developments in relation to the calculation of expense ratios.

To calculate the Ongoing Charges, Morningstar stores accounting information from each closed-end fund’s Annual Report & Accounts, including all line items from the detailed Fees and Expenses breakdown. Expense data is aggregated to calculate the Ongoing Charges for the year. The Morningstar Ongoing Charge is updated within 1 week of the Annual Report & Accounts publication date.

To read more about the changes, click here

Posted in: Morningstar,

On Wednesday 13 June it’s the next in our series of webinars from the Best Advice: Closed-end Fund Forum group.  This month our topic is centred around some of the quirks of investment trusts and how to manage these.  Advisers have traditionally been put off investment trusts by their perceived complexity. In reality, closed-ended funds are no more complex than open-ended, but it is worth examining the ‘tricks of the trade’ and how expert investors in investment trusts manage the quirks of investment trusts, notably discounts, liquidity and governance.

We will also be talking through how some of our panel members use investment trusts and where open-ended funds might be more appropriate.

I’m delighted to be joined on the panel by Julian Cane, manager of F&C Capital & Income (FCI) and Peter Walls, of small-cap specialists Unicorn, who are representing the investing side; James Moseley, head of sales at Winterfloods and representing the broker’s perspective; and William Hemmings, Aberdeen’s Head of Closed-end Funds. One of William’s responsibilities is liaison with the boards of Aberdeen’s funds so he brings yet another perspective to the table.

We’d love to hear the questions you want answered. You can submit questions in advance through the ‘feedback’ form at the bottom of this page or by emailing me directly.

Please join us in our discussion by attending here: http://www.brighttalk.com/r/dQB

If you are unable to join the live webinar, you can watch again on demand afterwards. During the live event you will be able to submit questions to the panel and take part in audience votes.

Posted in: Events, IFA News and Commentary, Morningstar, Research,

As of the 1st of June you’ll find new Ibbotson capital market assumption inputs and updated asset models in Adviser Workstation.

This year, in addition to the consolidated and standard asset models,  we’ve added supplementary standard models that exclude the Commodities asset class. This is primarily for those advisers using the Morningstar Portfolio Selection (MPS) service.  Commodities has always been a minimal allocation in the Portfolios and for the MPS service, it has been populated by funds which are invested in the securities of commodity-related companies rather than physical commodities.  These indirect commodity investments are not considered a good proxy for physical commodities as they exhibit considerably higher levels of volatility and the underlying companies themselves often hedge their commodity exposure.

Ibbotson ran some further analysis using commodity equities to represent the commodities allocation and found that this did not offer sufficient diversification qualities to justify a separate allocation.

For more information on Ibbotson’s Asset Allocation methodology, click here

Posted in: Morningstar, Research,

This BrighTalk Webinar will examine the ‘tricks of the trade’ and how expert investors in investment trusts manage the quirks of investment trusts, notably discounts, liquiditiy and governance. Investors will also talk through where they use investment trusts and where open-ended funds might be more appropriate

Investment Trust Quirks… And How to Manage Them
Live at: June 13,  2012 1:00 pm

To join the webinar, click here

Posted in: Events, IFA News and Commentary, Research,

Thanks to all of you who attended the Morningstar Investment Conference UK this year. In case you missed it we’ll have videos and more information coming soon.

For those who attended the trainings, here are some guides on what we covered:

Creating an Investment List

Saving a Fund Search

Seamless Importing from Transact

Adding Favourites

Batch Reporting

Creating an Investment Growth Chart

Check back soon on the Training Page for more guides

Posted in: Morningstar,

We’re looking forward to seeing you at the Morningstar Investment Conference on May 15^th and 16^th.  The Adviser Workstation team will be available throughout the two days to answer questions and show you product features. In addition, we’ll have some small group trainings open to Morningstar UK Advisers:

Tuesday, May 15^th

8:25-8:55              Adviser Workstation Training over Breakfast

11:00-12:00         Drop-in Training

12:30-13:00         Training Over Lunch

• For those of you who don’t want training but would like to join other AWS advisers for lunch, please let us know so we can make arrangements

16:00-17:00         Drop-in Training

Wednesday, May 16^th

9:00 – 10:00        Importing Training Session – We’ll help you setup importing from your platform(s), including:

• Seamless Importing from Fidelity and Transact
• Transactional Portfolio Importing

11:00-12:00         Drop-in Training

13:30-14:30         Lunchtime Training Session: Alerts, Research, Automated Client Reporting

• For those of you who don’t want training but would like to join other AWS advisers for lunch, please let us know so we can make arrangements

16:00-17:00         Drop-in Training

Click here to register for the sessions above

Click here for the full Morningstar Investment Conference agenda

Posted in: Events, Morningstar,

With less than a year to go until the implementation of the Retail Distribution Review (RDR), the Association of Investment Companies (AIC) has announced a series of free educational seminars on investment companies across the UK, targeted at financial advisers.

Beginning in London on June 14^th, the AIC will visit ten other regions of the country during 2012. These seminars are aimed at helping advisers understand more about investment companies and as well as representatives from the AIC, they will feature presentations from some of the industry’s top analysts, managers and commentators. At the first event external speakers include: Simon Elliott, Head of Research, Winterflood Investment Trusts and Caroline Gutman from Morningstar.

The agenda for the seminars will include: how to research investment companies – ten key issues to consider, an analyst/manager’s overview of the investment company sector and current opportunities, a platform update and a Q&A panel. All sessions will run from 9.30am until 12.30pm on a Thursday or Friday and CPD points will be available from the CII, CISI and IFP. There is no charge for these events but places are limited and will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

AIC Adviser Seminars

Jacqueline Lockie, Training Manager, AIC said: “Following on from our series of online training sessions, which were very well received, these seminars are an opportunity for advisers to find out how investment companies might help them to meet their clients’ needs. With strong long-term performance and unrivalled income records, investment companies have many benefits which may have previously been overlooked. Throughout the seminars we will be endeavouring to answer advisers’ questions to ensure that they understand the features and characteristics of investment companies and explore any concerns they might have. We hope to meet as many of you as possible out on the road!”

To register for the AIC adviser seminars please phone Debbie Gibbons at the AIC at 020 7282 5555 or email eventsteam@theaic.co.uk . Please include your name, company, phone number, email and the event location.

Posted in: Events, Morningstar,

HMRC’s latest ISA bulletin has raised the question of eligibility for stocks and shares ISAs of some funds post RDR.

The issue revolves around the ‘5% test’, which says that for an investment to be eligible for a stocks and shares ISA, at the date of purchase:

· there must be no guarantee or agreement that the investor would receive 95% or more of their purchase price at any time in the next five years, or

· the nature of the investments held must not significantly limit the risk to the investor’s capital to 5% loss or less at any time in the next five years.

The test compares the price paid by the investor for the investment with the amount receivable on the sale.  It thus applies after any initial, terminal or regular charges.  If the investor is ‘certain or near certain’ to receive 95% or more of their original purchase price, then the 5% test is not satisfied. Depending upon its nature, the investment may alternatively qualify to be held in a cash ISA.

HMRC is concerned that post RDR some funds, which currently carry sufficient charges to pass the 5% test, will no longer do so. It quotes the example of a fund with an initial charge reduced to 0.5% post RDR, but retaining a guarantee that losses will be capped at 3%.

Existing ISA rules already prevent a stocks and shares ISA manager from acquiring securities which have less than five years to run to redemption, hence the widespread use of terms just exceeding five years for ISA-wrapped structured products.

Bulletin provided by Techlink.

Read more here: http://www.techlink.co.uk/bulletin.asp?ID=99878

Posted in: IFA News and Commentary,

10 Passes to be won for the Morningstar Investment Conference 2012 in association with the IFP

Enter the prize draw

Morningstar are delighted to offer free two-day passes to the first 10 registrants to complete our online registration form – a saving of £99!

Enter the prize draw

Join us at the Morningstar Investment Conference in association with the IFP (May 15-16, London), where we have once again assembled a line-up of high profile investment professionals to provide objective and clear insight into the opportunities that exist in today’s markets, as well as tips for areas to avoid. Their presentations will offer a variety of views and will enable rigorous debate. To view the full agenda (CPD accredited), click here.

Posted in: Morningstar,