Morningstar introduces the Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence in 2022 in 13 countries throughout Europe and Asia1, replacing the Morningstar Fund Awards. The winners of this new Awards program will be selected based on the qualitative research of Morningstar’s manager research team.
Our annual Awards have been a long tradition at Morningstar. With our Fund Awards, we have historically recognized mutual funds and fund houses based on a combination of their historical risk-adjusted returns over one, three and five years. After a qualitative check, the finalists and winners were selected. The Awards were therefore mainly quantitative in nature and driven by a mechanical process. Our new Awards for Investing Excellence are based on the in-depth qualitative research performed by Morningstar’s European and Asian analysts. Our forward-looking rating for funds, the Morningstar Analyst Rating™ has become a centerpiece of the selection process including its Parent rating component.
Our new Awards therefore recognize not only funds and asset managers that have served investors well over the long term but also those that Morningstar’s Manager Research team believes will be able to deliver strong risk-adjusted returns in the longer term. For the first time, we are also introducing a recognition of asset managers that have built strong ESG capabilities, have proven track records of investing in dedicated ESG resources and are integrating sustainability principles into their investment programs. There are three types of Awards offered in this new program: the Morningstar Category Awards, the Morningstar Asset Manager Awards, and the Morningstar Asset Manager Sustainable-Investing Awards.
Category Awards
To qualify for this Award, a fund must be classified in one of the Morningstar categories eligible for the relevant award category (see the list here) and must carry a Morningstar Analyst Rating (or a Morningstar Quantitative Rating in some cases) of Gold, Silver or Bronze on at least one of its share classes.
Asset Manager Awards
To qualify for this Award, a fund house must earn a Parent Pillar rating of Above Average or High. In addition, they must offer at least five funds available in the local market.
Asset Manager Sustainable-Investing Awards
To qualify for this Award, a fund house needs to have shown a strong commitment to the integration of environmental, social and governance factors in their investment capabilities. It also needs to receive a qualitative assessment from Morningstar’s analysts in the form of a Parent Pillar rating. When applicable, the Morningstar ESG Commitment Level rating for asset manager is also used as a criteria. Finally, a fund house must manage at least five funds in the local market to be eligible.
Selection Process
For these three Awards, the funds and asset managers are nominated by Morningstar’s analysts. Our team then selects the nominees and winners through a majority vote. The funds and firms with the highest number of votes are finally chosen in local markets based on their availability for sale. The full methodology for the awards is available here.
Announcement of winners
The winners of the Morningstar Awards for Investing Excellence in Luxembourg will be announced on 30 March, 2022.