SYDNEY, 17 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 New Zealand Awards. The annual Awards program, now in its 21st year, recognise and celebrate the best of the New Zealand fund management profession who are selected by Morningstar’s manager research analysts.

“Despite the extreme market volatility and uncertainty resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic over the past year, our nominated fund managers stand out for their ability to show an unwavering focus on serving the best interests of investors and delivering excellent returns over the longer term,” said Aman Ramrakha, Morningstar Australasia’s Director of Manager Research Ratings.

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 KiwiSaver category. To receive the overall Fund Manager of the Year award, a fund manager must have offered funds in multiple award categories or delivered an outstanding outcome for investors. The KiwiSaver Award recognises the provider that offered the best solution for New Zealanders' retirement savings needs in 2020.

Methodology
Only fund managers with products available for sale in New Zealand qualify for inclusion in the Morningstar New Zealand Awards. Morningstar determines the winner 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, 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 the winner.

To receive the overall New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year award, a fund manager must have offered funds 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. Morningstar’s manager research analysts present the New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year award to the fund manager that had strong returns across multiple categories and was deemed a good steward of investors' capital. The New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year therefore represents the New Zealand fund manager that, in Morningstar's opinion, has achieved the highest level of funds management excellence.

The KiwiSaver Award recognises the provider that offers the best solution for New Zealanders' retirement savings needs. The winner is determined by a combination of quantitative and qualitative research by Morningstar's manager research analysts, including transparency and disclosure, investor experience, performance, and fees.

The winners for the 2021 Morningstar New Zealand Awards will be revealed during a digital event on Thursday, 25 February. Full-time members of the news media are invited to attend the digital 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 marykate.marchesi@morningstar.com