SYDNEY, 16 February 2021 -- Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, has today announced the finalists of the 2021 Morningstar Australia Awards. The annual Awards program, now in its 21st year, recognise and celebrate the best of the Australian fund management profession who are selected by Morningstar’s Manager Research analysts.

“The unprecedented market volatility over the ongoing fallout of the pandemic brought uncertainty and challenges to even the most sophisticated of investors in 2020,” said Aman Ramrakha, Morningstar Australasia’s Director, Manager Research Ratings. “Despite the turbulent past year, our nominated fund managers demonstrated an ability to deliver quality, high-performing investments and have stood above peers with exceptional returns over the longer term.”

Award finalists and winners are determined by a combination of qualitative research by Morningstar's manager research analysts; risk-adjusted medium- to long-term performance track records; and performance in the 2020 calendar year. The table below shows the category finalists, including finalists for the overall Fund Manager of the Year and Undiscovered Manager.

Methodology

Only fund managers with products available for sale in Australia qualify for inclusion in the Morningstar Australia Awards. Morningstar determines winners based on a combination of qualitative research by its manager research analysts; risk-adjusted returns over medium- to long-term periods; and performance in the 2020 calendar year. Morningstar's manager research analysts assess the track record for a fund based on Morningstar's Risk-Adjusted Return measure over the one-, three-, five-, and ten-year periods. The objective is to screen for fund managers that have provided consistently strong returns over the long term, and not just reward those with the most impressive one-year return.

Morningstar's manager research analysts then conduct a qualitative assessment of the fund managers under consideration. This incorporates the key pillars of the Morningstar Analyst Rating™ – People, Process and Parent. The qualitative assessment also captures practical issues that quantitative screens cannot. After assessing the quantitative and qualitative outcomes for each fund manager, Morningstar's analysts then debate and decide on the fund managers they believe are worthy winners and finalists across the various Award categories. If a verdict cannot be reached by a unanimous decision, then each analyst casts a vote to decide.

To receive the overall Fund Manager of the Year award, a fund manager must have offered products in multiple award categories or delivered an outstanding outcome for investors. Fund managers were assessed not only on whether they were a finalist in more than one category, but on products that had peer-beating returns but did not obtain a top three position. The winner must have strong returns across multiple categories, proven themselves a good steward of investors' capital, and in Morningstar's opinion, has achieved the highest level of funds management excellence.

The award for Undiscovered Manager includes managers or specific funds with strong investment merit that Morningstar considers worthy of bringing to the attention of the retail market. For example, a manager that may be newer to the retail market but has a successful track record offshore or in the institutional space.

The winners for the 2021 Morningstar Australia Awards will be announced on Friday, 26 February at the Establishment Ballroom in Sydney. Full-time members of the news media are invited to attend the event. To register, list “media” in the Company field, here. For more information about Morningstar Awards, visit https://go.morningstar.com/Morningstar-Awards 

About Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited and Morningstar, Inc.   Morningstar Australasia is a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (“the company”), 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 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 USD $215 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2020. The company has operations in 29 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on Twitter @MorningstarInc. 

The Awards are copyrighted to Morningstar. Fund managers may not publicise the Award(s) without the prior written consent of Morningstar.

Analyst Ratings and Award nominees and winners are subjective in nature and should not be used as the sole basis for investment decisions. Analyst Ratings are based on Morningstar’s current expectations about future events and therefore involve unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause Morningstar’s expectations not to occur or to differ significantly from what was expected. Morningstar does not represent its Analyst Ratings to be guarantees nor should they be viewed as an assessment of a fund’s or the fund’s underlying securities’ creditworthiness. The references above should not be considered a solicitation by Morningstar to buy securities.

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Media Contact:
Mary-Kate Marchesi, +61 419-535-555 or [email protected]