The Morningstar Medalist RatingTM is the summary expression of Morningstar’s forward-looking analysis of investment strategies as offered via specific vehicles using a rating scale of Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative. The Medalist Ratings indicate which investments Morningstar believes are likely to outperform a relevant index or peer group average on a risk-adjusted basis over time. Investment products are evaluated on three key pillars (People, Parent, and Process) which, when coupled with a fee assessment, forms the basis for Morningstar’s conviction in those products’ investment merits and determines the Medalist Rating they’re assigned. Pillar ratings take the form of Low, Below Average, Average, Above Average, and High. Pillars may be evaluated via an analyst’s qualitative assessment (either directly to a vehicle the analyst covers or indirectly when the pillar ratings of a covered vehicle are mapped to a related uncovered vehicle) or using algorithmic techniques. Vehicles are sorted by their expected performance into rating groups defined by their Morningstar Category and their active or passive status. When analysts directly cover a vehicle, they assign the three pillar ratings based on their qualitative assessment, subject to the oversight of the Analyst Rating Committee, and monitor and reevaluate them at least every 14 months. When the vehicles are covered either indirectly by analysts or by algorithm, the ratings are assigned monthly. For more detailed information about these ratings, including their methodology, please go to global.morningstar.com/managerdisclosures/.
The Morningstar Medalist Ratings are not statements of fact, nor are they credit or risk ratings. The Morningstar Medalist Rating (i) should not be used as the sole basis in evaluating an investment product, (ii) involves unknown risks and uncertainties which may cause expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected, (iii) are not guaranteed to be based on complete or accurate assumptions or models when determined algorithmically, (iv) involve the risk that the return target will not be met due to such things as unforeseen changes in management, technology, economic development, interest rate development, operating and/or material costs, competitive pressure, supervisory law, exchange rate, tax rates, exchange rate changes, and/or changes in political and social conditions, and (v) should not be considered an offer or solicitation to buy or sell the investment product. A change in the fundamental factors underlying the Morningstar Medalist Rating can mean that the rating is subsequently no longer accurate.
The Morningstar Medalist Rating for funds is the summary expression of Morningstar’s forward-looking analysis of investment strategies as offered via the specific vehicles, which can include but are not limited to open-end funds, closed-end funds, exchange-traded funds, and separately managed accounts domiciled throughout the world. The Medalist Rating does not express a view on a given asset class or peer group; rather, it seeks to evaluate each strategy and associated vehicle within the context of an appropriate benchmark and peer group.
Morningstar assigns Morningstar Medalist Ratings at the vehicle level to accurately capture the impact of fee differences on expected net-of-fee alpha between different types of vehicles, including different share classes of the same fund. Morningstar’s research and academic studies have repeatedly shown that a vehicle’s ability to outperform erodes as fees become higher.
Morningstar expresses the Morningstar Medalist Rating on a five-tier scale running from Gold to Negative. For actively managed funds, Morningstar assigns Gold, Silver, and Bronze ratings to vehicles expected to add value, or “positive alpha,” over the long term when compared with a relevant Morningstar Category index after accounting for fees and risk. For passive strategies, Morningstar assigns Gold, Silver, and Bronze ratings to vehicles expected to deliver alpha that exceeds the lesser of the category median net alpha, or zero, over the long term. (Morningstar defines “long term” as periods lasting at least five years.)