Morningstar Acquires Hueler Analytics' Stable Value Data and Index

The addition of stable-value product data to Morningstar data increases visibility for assets in defined-contribution (DC) retirement plans

News provided by

Morningstar, Inc.

Feb 03, 2020, 09:00 ET

CHICAGO, Feb. 3, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced its acquisition of Hueler Analytics' Stable Value Comparative Universe Data and Stable Value Index. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 1987 in Minneapolis, Minn., Hueler is the premiere independent data and research firm providing reporting and systems designed for the annuity and stable-value marketplace. Hueler Analytics' distribution encompasses advisors, investment managers, product providers, plan fiduciaries, and consultants. Hueler Analytics' Stable Value Comparative Universe Data provides broad market coverage of stable-value investments, including stable-value pooled funds, insurance company separate accounts, and general account products. Hueler's Stable Value Index is the only industry Index derived from aggregate returns of contributing stable-value product providers and dates back to 1983.

Asset managers, fiduciaries, advisors, and consultants rely on Hueler products for due diligence, performance measurement, and investment selection. Hueler's stable-value data and reporting products have allowed for seamless comparability of pooled funds and insurance-company-sponsored products across standardized data elements.

"Stable-value funds have long played an important role in helping retirement plan participants accumulate retirement savings and already account for 10 percent of assets in defined-contribution plans. While largely invested in fixed-income securities, stable-value funds are designed to provide steady, predictable returns that exceed money market investments over time and are protected from any loss of capital or interest through contracts from an insurance company or bank," said Joscelyn MacKay, director of data products for the Americas at Morningstar. "Investment professionals across all market segments have relied on Hueler Analytics for accurate, detailed, and comprehensive analysis of stable-value data. Its addition to Morningstar will help us to continue illuminating investing across all types of securities and help people achieve a successful retirement."

Hueler's founder, Kelli Hueler, and Managing Director of Operations Kathleen Schillo, will serve in a consulting role to support the transition of Hueler Analytics' Stable Value Comparative Universe Data and Index to Morningstar.

"We are proud of the reputation Hueler Analytics has built for exceptional data integrity and reporting on stable-value funds. It's gratifying to see these products we've developed with strong industry support over the past 30 years move into the capable hands of the Morningstar team," said Hueler. "We have the utmost confidence that Morningstar is the best firm to continue this commitment and advance the future of stable-value data and reporting."

The Stable Value Investment Association reports that as of year-end 2018, more than 179,000 DC plans are making stable-value products available to millions of participants, and participants' assets allocated to stable value total approximately $839 billion.

Following the integration of the stable-value data with Morningstar, the stable-value data universe and index will be available in Morningstar Direct, and through Morningstar Data solutions. Additionally, Morningstar Investment Management will leverage the stable-value data universe to inform Morningstar Fiduciary Services' retirement plan lineups, including 401(k)s.

About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the private capital markets. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with about $217 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2019. The company has operations in 27 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on Twitter @MorningstarInc.

About Hueler Companies, Inc.
Hueler Companies and its affiliates (together, Hueler Companies) located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was founded in 1987 as a consulting/data research firm. The firm is now recognized as a leading technology and research firm offering key resources for the analysis, selection, and implementation of stable value and lifetime income annuity products. Hueler provides two primary services to the defined contribution market: the Hueler Analytics Stable Value Fund Comparative Universe and the Hueler Income Solutions® Lifetime Income Annuity Platform. Hueler Analytics Stable Value Comparative Universe and Index reporting was introduced in 1989 and has since become the established gold standard for due diligence and fiduciary evaluation of stable value investment funds. The organization's excellent reputation among key industry leaders has facilitated the development of critically important systems for transparent stable value reporting designed to meet a variety of needs across market segments, including; advisors, investment managers, product providers, plan fiduciaries, and consultants.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as "may," "could," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential," "prospects," or "continue." These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, liability for any losses that result from an actual or claimed breach of our fiduciary duties; failing to maintain and protect our brand, independence, and reputation; failing to differentiate our products and continuously create innovative, proprietary research tools; liability related to the storage of personal information related to individuals as well as portfolio and account-level information; inadequacy of our business continuity program in the event of a material emergency or adverse political or regulatory developments; failing to respond to technological change, keep pace with new technology developments, or adopt a successful technology strategy; trends in the asset management industry, including the decreasing popularity of actively managed investment vehicles and increased industry consolidation; an outage of our database, technology-based products and services, or network facilities or the movement of parts of our technology infrastructure to the public cloud; compliance failures, regulatory action, or changes in laws applicable to our investment advisory or credit rating operations; volatility in the financial sector, global markets, and global economy and its effect on our revenue from asset-based fees and credit ratings business; the failure of acquisitions and other investments to produce the results we anticipate; the failure to recruit, develop, and retain qualified employees; challenges faced by our non-U.S. operations, including the concentration of data and development work at our offshore facilities in China and India; liability relating to the acquisition or redistribution of data or information we acquire or errors included therein; and the failure to protect our intellectual property rights or claims of intellectual property infringement against us. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results may vary significantly from what we expected. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events.

MORN-C

Media Contacts

Morningstar

Sarah Wirth, +1 312 244-7358 or [email protected]

Hueler Analytics

Kelli Hueler, +1 952 941-5351 or [email protected]

SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.