## Newsletters and Other Publications 

We offer a variety of print and electronic publications about invest- ing. Some of these include Morningstar Mutual Funds , a reference publication that features our signature one-page reports on approx- imately 1,500 mutual funds; Morningstar FundInvestor , a monthly newsletter that provides information and insight on 500 of the most popular mutual funds and a list of 150 AnalystPicks; Morningstar StockInvestor , a monthly newsletter that focuses on companies with strong competitive positions and stock prices that we believe are low enough to provide investors with a margin of safety; Morningstar ETFInvestor , a monthly newsletter with specific investment ideas, recommendations, model portfolios, and data on exchange-traded funds; and the Ibbotson Stocks, Bonds, Bills, and Inflation Yearbook , a definitive study of historical capital markets data in the United States. In addition, we offer several other investment newsletters and a series of books about investing and personal finance, which are available directly from us and in bookstores. 

In 2011, we plan to develop a newsletter application for the new iPad platform with the goal of attracting new users, especially younger ones, and providing a new source of revenue through appli- cation fees, subscription fees, and/or advertising sales. We plan to begin by delivering newsletter content via an iPad application for Morningstar StockInvestor  and plan to roll out similar capabili- ties for other newsletters throughout 2011. 

Our print publications compete primarily with Agora Publishing, Forbes , InvestorPlace Media, The Motley Fool, and Value Line. 

## Morningstar Equity Research 

As of December 31, 2010, we offered independent equity research on approximately 2,300 companies globally. Our approach to stock analysis focuses on long-term fundamentals. Our analysts evaluate companies by assessing each firm’s competitive advantage, analyz- ing the level of business risk, and completing an in-depth projection of future cash flows. For the companies we cover, our analysts prepare a fair value estimate, a Morningstar Rating for stocks, a rating for business risk, and an assessment of the company’s eco- nomic moat. Economic moat is a concept originally developed by Warren Buffett that describes a company’s competitive advantage relative to other companies. For the remaining stocks included in our database, we offer quantitative grades for growth, profitability, and financial health, as well as an explanation of the company’s business operations. We currently deliver our equity research to individual investors as part of our Premium Membership service on Morningstar. com, as well as to several other companies who provide our research to their affiliated financial advisors or to individual investors. 

We currently provide analyst reports on virtually all of the most widely held stocks in the S&P 500 index, as well as numerous com- panies included in other major indexes. We had approximately 117 equity and credit analysts around the world as of December 31, 2010, compared with 108 as of December 31, 2009. 

In 2010, we rolled out an expanded research format for our institu- tional clients, including more in-depth analysis of the company’s economic moat, scenario analysis, and capital structure, as well as our analysts’ specific multi-year forecasts for dozens of operating and financial metrics. 

We also initiated credit ratings on nearly 600 firms, bringing our total to more than 720, including banks, insurers, and REITs, and rolled out detailed credit analyses for most of these. The research is aimed at institutions and advisors, and includes a monthly credit Best Ideas list, weekly Credit Update, and detailed credit research reports. 

Our Equity Research services compete with The Applied Finance Group, Credit Suisse HOLT, Renaissance Capital, Standard & Poor’s, Value Line, Zacks Investment Research, and several smaller research firms. Competitors for our credit research include Credit Sights, Egan-Jones, Fitch, Gimme Credit, Moody’s, and Standard & Poor’s. 

Pricing for Morningstar Equity and Credit Research varies based on the level of distribution, the number of securities covered, the amount of custom coverage required, and the length of the contract term. 

## Realpoint 

Acquired by Morningstar in May 2010, Realpoint is an NRSRO specializing in structured finance. It offers securities ratings, research, surveillance services, and data to help institutional investors identify risk in commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS). Realpoint rates new-issue securities by analyzing the individual loan, loan portfolio, and issuing trust. It publishes comprehensive pre-sale reports that include ratings for each class of the transaction, required subordination levels, detailed underwriting of 100% of the assets in the pool, and an in-depth asset summary for every property in the transaction. Realpoint secured ratings assignments on five of the 16 CMBS transactions that came to market in 2010. 

