Chicago-based investment management and advice firm Morningstar has caused a stir by filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch nine mutual funds for its managed portfolios that are purely for financial advisers. Morningstar said the new sub-advised in-house funds would improve flexibility and simplicity for clients, and reduce investor fees by about 20%. The move comes as many of Wall Street’s biggest firms have been forced into mergers or acquisitions in recent years amid falling revenue from traditional brokerage accounts. “What they’re doing makes sense in that they are trying to build lower cost products for advisers, but because of who Morningstar is in the fund world, it makes what they’re doing more challenging,” he said. The funds, if approved, could launch any time from October.
Chicago-based investment management and advice firm Morningstar has caused a stir by filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission to launch nine mutual funds for its managed portfolios that are purely for financial advisers. Morningstar said the new sub-advised in-house funds would improve flexibility and simplicity for clients, and reduce investor fees by about 20%. The move comes as many of Wall Street’s biggest firms have been forced into mergers or acquisitions in recent years amid falling revenue from traditional brokerage accounts. The funds, if approved, could launch any time from October.