Is Morningstar Investor Worth It

Morningstar Investor helps you find the next best investment. But is it worth the subscription fee? Read on to find out.

Morningstar Investor has ratings that help you measure a fund's strength. It also helps you build a portfolio that will serve you for the long term. But is this tool right for you?

In this review, learn whether Morningstar Investor is worth it or not.

Is Morningstar Investor Worth It?

Morningstar Investor is worth it for those who need tools to find their next fund or stock to invest in. It offers some great in-depth analyses of hundreds of thousands of financial instruments.

It's also worth it for active mutual fund investors with large portfolios. The larger your portfolio is, the more negligible the cost of the subscription fee is.

What Is Morningstar Investor?

Morningstar Investor is an investment research firm that is known for its star ratings for mutual funds.

Morningstar rates mutual funds according to their performance. The rating measures a fund's risk-adjusted return relative to similar funds. Funds that perform best are given a 5-star rating, while funds that perform worst get a 1-star rating.

Morningstar offers in-depth analysis of more than 600,000 financial instruments. The insights offered include historical performance and qualitative assessments of fund strategies.

The company was founded in 1984 and has since become a source of data, analysis, and tools that help stocks and mutual fund investors make informed investment decisions.

How Morningstar Investor Works

Morningstar offers free information and subscription services. By becoming a premium member, you get access to comprehensive data and tools, including detailed analyses of investment assets.

Each asset has its own detailed page. You can explore various features like "best of" lists that highlight top stocks and funds hand-picked by Morningstar's professional analysts.

Each asset also has a star rating. Morningstar ratings can help you gauge the strength of an investment based on its past performance. They use a simple one-to-five-star system, with more stars indicating better historical returns. If you see an investment with five stars, it means the asset has done really well in the past.

Morningstar Investor Pricing

Morningstar Investor costs $34.95/month. The annual plan, which costs $249, is 41% cheaper than the monthly plan.^[1]

You could also use their free trial before subscribing. This way, you'll know if it's a good fit before paying.

Start 7-Day Free Trial of Morningstar Investor

Click Here to Start Free Trial

Key Features

Morningstar Investor gives you valuable investment insights and helps you find your next investment. Basically, it helps you cut out the guesswork by giving you ratings. Here are some of its key features:

Stock and Fund Analysis

The stock and fund analysis is the most valuable membership perk. It gives you key indicators like the fair market assessment. This tells you the price Morningstar believes it should be trading at versus its current market price. Then, it tells you whether the stock is overvalued, undervalued, or fairly priced.

Additionally, you get information on key stats like cash flow, financial statements, valuations, dividend rates, historical payouts, and more.

Analyst Reports

Analyst reports tell you what Morningstar's analysts think about a specific investment. They let you know the state of the business and show you a projection of its future direction.

These comprehensive reports include analyst notes, business strategy and outlook, risk and uncertainty, economic moat, stewardship, fair value, and profit drivers.

Morningstar Ratings

Morningstar's star rating system provides a quick assessment of an investment's prior performance. This can be used as a starting point for further research, removes the guesswork, and provides a yardstick for measuring a security's strength.

For companies with no analyst reports, Morningstar gives a rating to compare them to their peers. Morningstar's models give you a quantitative moat, fair value, and uncertainty rating.

Portfolio Management

Morningstar Investor offers a portfolio manager where you can monitor your investments and make lists of potential new ones. It also gives you feedback on your investment game plan.

Its portfolio management tools give you inside information on your investments: what they're doing, if they're worth it, and how they fit into your strategy. You can see how your portfolio is doing, where your money is going, how fees play in, and any risky stock overlaps.

Portfolio X-Rays

As soon as you set up your portfolio, the Portfolio X-Ray Overview checks out how your assets are spread out and which sectors you're heavy in. It detects if you have a concentrated position in one or two stocks or if your mutual funds overlap.

Basically, this helps you steer clear of doubling up on the same companies in your portfolio.

Screeners

Morningstar has over 200 filters that let you search mutual funds based on your preferences. You can filter by category, performance, or analyst grade ratings. Other search criteria include Morningstar rating and risk, annual returns, sustainability, loan-adjusted returns, yield, tax cost ratio, and more.

Educational Resources

Morningstar offers a self-study course called Morningstar Investing Classroom. It teaches you what you need to know about stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, and bonds. It also teaches you how to properly construct your portfolio.

They also offer an investment glossary where you can see hundreds of investing terms and their meanings.

Mobile App

Morningstar's free app is available for Apple and Android devices. It lets you sync with your portfolios from anywhere. It isn't as robust as the website, but it's perfect for quick research when you're on the move.

User Testimonies

Here are some Trustpilot testimonies from Morningstar users:

Bottom Line

Morningstar Investor isn't for everyone. But if you're an active mutual funds investor, it may be worth it. The tools you get can help you easily find the next fund to invest in.

Start 7-Day Free Trial of Morningstar Investor

Click Here to Start Free Trial

If you're curious about what they have to offer, you can use their free trial before jumping in. That way, you'll know if this is the right investment tool for you. You can also check out our full review of Morningstar Investor for the bigger picture.

References