SMArtX Advisory Solutions Establishes Strategic and Commercial Relationship with Morningstar Investment Management

SMArtX's unified managed account technology to power Morningstar's turnkey asset management platform

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Nov 16, 2021, 05:27 ET

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Nov. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- SMArtX Advisory Solutions ('SMArtX'), a leading innovator in unified managed accounts ('UMA') technology and architect of the SMArtX turnkey asset management platform ('TAMP'), today announced a strategic and commercial relationship with Morningstar Investment Management, LLC a subsidiary of leading independent research provider Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN).

SMArtX has been selected to power Morningstar's turnkey asset management platform. SMArtX's industry leading, cloud-native, API-first managed account technology will support Morningstar Investment Management's integrated advisor solution for seamlessly managing client assets, including intra-day portfolio and performance pricing, click-to-allocate functionality, automated trading and rebalancing, exclusions/substitutions, cash management, and tax harvesting tools. The solution streamlines day-to-day tasks for opening, managing, and monitoring client accounts.

SMArtX's flexible solution provides Morningstar Investment Management with an engine to help grow its TAMP business by consolidating its vast subject matter expertise into a modern platform fit for today's managed accounts industry. Additionally, Morningstar, Inc. made a direct investment in SMArtX, structured as a convertible note, earlier this year to support its continued growth. Over the last 13 months, SMArtX's assets under management have increased approximately 785% to top $18.84 billion and client accounts have grown 827% to 79,029.

"When SMArtX made the decision to consider new strategic prospects we knew there were opportunities to team with many firms, but we decided to focus on a handful of firms that would help us grow both strategically and commercially," said Evan Rapoport, CEO of SMArtX Advisory Solutions. "We have previously been supported by private equity firms and we believe now is the right time to develop deeper relationships with some of the industry's largest companies. We couldn't be happier to work with Morningstar and its investment management group."

SMArtX's continued growth is driven by two main applications of its technology: the off-the-shelf TAMP offering, which is built using SMArtX Advisory Solutions' proprietary UMA technology, and the ability to further deploy that UMA technology through its application programming interface (API) to meet the tailored mandates of large enterprises.

"Putting investors first permeates everything we do, including the technology choices we make to help advisors put their clients' needs front and center," said Daniel Needham, president, Morningstar Investment Management. "Leveraging SMArtX's flexible and scalable API for unified managed accounts technology for enterprises helps us create a seamless experience for advisors that drives successful investor outcomes."

"The recent groundswell of financial technology advancements requires a flexible, cloud-based infrastructure built on a modular, micro-services architecture with highly efficient data flow to effectively integrate and bring clients the best outcomes. That is exactly what SMArtX brings to the table," said Jonathan Pincus, President & COO of SMArtX Advisory Solutions.

About SMArtX Advisory Solutions
SMArtX Advisory Solutions is the next generation managed accounts technology provider and manages SMArtX, a turnkey asset management platform that automates the investment management process and reduces the administrative burden of overseeing client investment portfolios. The firm also licenses its proprietary managed accounts technology to help firms replace legacy technology and powers several investment platforms for RIAs, broker-dealers, and asset managers. Learn more at www.smartxadvisory.com. Follow SMArtX on Twitter and LinkedIn @SMArtXAdvisory.

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 and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, and institutional investors in the debt and 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, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $260 billion in assets under advisement and management as of September 30, 2021. The Company has operations in 29 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on Twitter @MorningstarInc.

About Morningstar's Investment Management group
Morningstar's Investment Management group is a leading provider of discretionary investment management and advisory services. Guided by seven investment principles, the group is committed to focusing on its mission to design portfolios that help investors reach their financial goals. The group's global investment management team works as one to apply a disciplined investment process to its strategies and portfolios, bringing together core capabilities in asset allocation, investment selection, and portfolio construction. This robust process integrates proprietary research and leading investment techniques. As of June 30, 2021, Morningstar's Investment Management group was responsible for approximately $251 billion* in assets under advisement and management across North America, EMEA, and Asia-Pacific.

In addition to advisory services, the group's investment professionals build and manage model portfolios for financial advisors in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, South Africa and India to create strategies that incorporate a wide variety of investment objectives.

*Includes assets under management and advisement for Morningstar Investment Management LLC, Morningstar Investment Services LLC, Morningstar Investment Management Europe Ltd., Morningstar Investment Management Australia Ltd., Ibbotson Associates Japan, Inc., Morningstar Investment Management South Africa (PTY) LTD, and Morningstar Associates Inc. all of which are subsidiaries of Morningstar, Inc. Advisory services listed are provided by one or more of these entities, which are authorized in the appropriate jurisdiction to provide such services.

SOURCE SMArtX Advisory Solutions