Morningstar® Excel Add-In

User Guide

Direct
Copyright © 2020 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
Microsoft and Excel are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States 
and/or other countries
The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied
or distributed; (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely; and (4) does not constitute advice of any kind.
Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this
information. Any statements that are nonfactual in nature constitute opinions only, are subject to change without
notice, and may not be consistent across Morningstar. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Morningstar® Excel Add-In July 2020

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Contents

Morningstar® Excel Add-In User Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Installation and Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Install the Morningstar Excel Add-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Log in to the Morningstar Excel Add-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Select Your Preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Features of the Morningstar Add-In window for investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Select the layout and output options for your spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Create a spreadsheet entry for an investment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Create an entry based on an existing entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Create a time series entry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Change the order of the entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Delete an entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Submit the entries to the spreadsheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Open the Morningstar Add-In window from the spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Edit an entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Change the order of position-locked entries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Retrieving Data for Securities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Data point parameters associated with investments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Working with the Holdings sub-tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Data point parameters associated with holdings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Create spreadsheet entries for holdings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Working with the Identifiers sub-tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Create spreadsheet entries from an investment list or saved search . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Retrieving Morningstar Data from a Portfolio . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Data point parameters associated with an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Create spreadsheet entries from an account, custom benchmark, 
or model portfolio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Working with the Holdings sub-tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Create spreadsheet entries from holdings in an object . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Introduction to Working with Economic Data in the Morningstar Excel Add-In . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Features of the Morningstar Add-In window for economic indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

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 Contents

Retrieving Economic Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Create spreadsheet entries for economic indicators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Options on the Settings tab. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Options on the +Data tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Add an entry to a spreadsheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Use search to create a spreadsheet entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Edit an entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Delete an entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

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Morningstar® Excel Add-In User Guide

The Morningstar® Excel Add-In allows you to retrieve data from the Morningstar Overview
database and load it into Microsoft® Excel® for further calculation, formatting, or
charting. Thousands of widely used data points and investment types are available.
 Note: The Morningstar Excel Add-In is available to all users of Morningstar DirectSM.

You can retrieve custom data created in Morningstar DirectSM Cloud, as well as data
from lists and searches created in Morningstar Direct Cloud.
The Morningstar Excel Add-In allows you to retrieve the following:
g data related to investments, and
g economic data.
The Morningstar Excel Add-In supports the following databases:
g mutual funds
g closed end funds
g stocks
g ETFs
g money market funds
g hedge funds
g separate accounts
g market indexes
g categories
g accounts
g model portfolios
g custom benchmarks, and
g custom databases.
 Note: It is assumed you have a working knowledge of Microsoft Excel.

In this document, you will learn how to do the following:

g install the Morningstar Excel Add-In and set preferences for it (page 6)
g work with investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In (page 13)
g retrieve Morningstar data for securities (page 26)
g retrieve Morningstar data from a portfolio (page 36)
g working with economic data in the Morningstar Excel Add-In (page 43), and
g retrieve economic indicator data (page 45).

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Overview Installation and Preferences

Installation and Preferences

Overview The Morningstar Excel Add-In is an option for users of Morningstar Direct. You do not
need a separate license.
You can retrieve discrete and time series data for various instruments in the
Morningstar Direct database, including your lists, accounts, and portfolio holdings. You
can use predictive search to find securities and data points, and specify the parameters
to customize the output.
 Note: Go to [Link] and click Data Dictionary to learn what
universes and data points are covered in the Morningstar Excel Add-In.

In this section, you will learn how to:

g install the Morningstar Excel Add-In (page 7)
g log in to the Morningstar Excel Add-In (page 8), and
g select your preferences (page 11).

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Installation and Preferences Install the Morningstar Excel Add-In

Before installing the Morningstar Excel Add-In, make sure your system meets the Install the Morningstar
minimum requirements: Excel Add-In
g Microsoft Excel: 2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019 - 32/64-bit

g Operating System: Windows 10

To install the Morningstar Excel Add-In, do the following:
1. Quit Excel.
2. Do one of the following:
g In your browser, go to [Link] or
g On the Morningstar Direct Cloud home page, in the Utilities module, click
Excel Add-In.

Note the
highlighted
selection

3. On the Morningstar Excel Add-In page, under Downloads, locate the latest version and
click the Download button. A window opens.
4. Click the Download button for one of the following:
g Executable package (.exe)
g Windows Installer (.msi), or
g Zipped files (.zip).
5. In the window, follow the instructions for the download you selected. The Morningstar
Setup Wizard opens Excel.
 Note: During the installation process, the Setup Wizard will automatically install a Primary
Interop Assemblies (PIA) if it is not found. (For more information on PIAs, see
[Link] us/library/[Link].) In some cases, you might receive
an error message about the PIA’s installation and the Setup Wizard will stop installing. This is
most likely caused by administrator rights on your computer. Log off and log back into the
computer as an administrator, then re-install the Morningstar Excel Add-In. Once installation
is complete, you do not need administrator rights to run the Morningstar Excel Add-In.

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Log in to the Morningstar Excel Add-In Installation and Preferences

6. In Excel, you may see a Security Warning reading “Macros have been disabled.” Click
Enable Content.
7. In the Setup Wizard window, click Close. Excel opens. Note the Morningstar tab at the
top of the window.

Note the highlighted selection

In Excel 2007 and higher, the Morningstar Excel Add-In leverages the Microsoft® Office
Fluent™-based user interface, in which command icons are displayed on a ribbon at
the top of the window. Earlier versions of Excel do not support the ribbon, but the same
functions available from the ribbon will be available on a drop-down field. Fluent is a
trademark of Microsoft Corporation and the Fluent user interface is licensed from
Microsoft Corporation.

Log in to the Because the Morningstar Excel Add-In retrieves data from Morningstar Direct and
Morningstar Excel Add-In Morningstar Direct Cloud, you must create a connection between the Excel Add-In tool
and the two Morningstar applications when you log in.
To log in to the Morningstar Excel Add-In and create a connection with Morningstar
Direct and Morningstar Direct Cloud, do the following:
1. In Excel, select the Morningstar tab. One of the following happens:
g The Morningstar Add-In dialog box opens.
g The Morningstar Add-In dialog box does not open. On the Morningstar ribbon,
click Profile and from the drop-down field, select Direct. The Morningstar dialog
box opens.

Note the highlighted selection

2. Enter your E-mail Address and Password for Morningstar Direct.

If you have multiple e-mail

addresses, be sure to enter
the one you use to log in to
Morningstar Direct

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Installation and Preferences Log in to the Morningstar Excel Add-In

3. If you cannot remember your Morningstar Direct login and password, do one of
the following:
g If you are using version 6.3 of the Morningstar Excel Add-In, click Click here to
reset. After resetting your credentials, continue logging in to the Morningstar
Excel Add-In.

Click here if you have

forgotten your
Morningstar Direct e-mail
address and/or password

g If you are using a version of the Morningstar Excel Add-In earlier than version 6.3,
launch Morningstar Direct. In the Sign-In window, click Forgot your password?
After resetting your credentials, return to the Morningstar Excel Add-In and use your
new login and password to log in.

Click here if you have

forgotten your
Morningstar Direct e-mail
address and/or password

4. Click Log in. The Morningstar Add-In dialog box closes.

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Log in to the Morningstar Excel Add-In Installation and Preferences

5. Do one of the following:

g If the Morningstar Add-In dialog box opened on its own (step 1 on page 11),
proceed to the next step.
g If you opened the Morningstar Add-In dialog box by selecting Direct from the Profile
drop-down field (step 1 on page 11), the connection is established. Stop here.
6. In Excel, on the Morningstar ribbon, click Profile. A drop-down fields opens.

Note the highlighted selection

7. From the Profile drop-down field, select Direct. The connection between Excel and
Morningstar Direct is established.

Note the highlighted selections

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Installation and Preferences Select Your Preferences

In this section, you will select your preferences for working with the Morningstar Excel Select Your Preferences
Add-In. You can change your preferences at any time.
To select your preferences, do the following:
1. On the Morningstar ribbon, from the Profile drop-down field, select Preferences. The
Morningstar Add-In dialog box opens.

Note the highlighted selections

The default settings for

Preferences are shown here

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Select Your Preferences Installation and Preferences

2. In the Morningstar Add-In dialog box, select from the various options (described here).

Option Action

No Value Displayed From the drop-down field, select the character(s) to

display when no value is retrieved:
g N/A
g Blank (display a blank cell)
g - (display a hyphen)
Morningstar Rating and Click one of the two options:
Style Box g Show Morningstar Rating and Morningstar Style Box
as number or text
g Show Morningstar Rating and Morningstar Style Box
as symbol

Data Retrieval Settings When Enable local cache is on, the sub-options are
available. When a sub-option is on, data is stored in
local memory when you refresh. The sub-options are
as follows:
g On Refresh Cell
g On Refresh Sheet, and
g On Refresh Workbook.
 Note: Local memory is cleared when you log out
of Excel.

3. Click OK.

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Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In Overview

Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In

In the Morningstar Excel Add-In, retrieving data from the Morningstar database is Overview
handled in the Morningstar Add-In window. Key features are as follows:
g You can create multiple entries and add them to your spreadsheet all at once.
g You can access the Morningstar database using simple text entry, drop-down
fields, and toggles, and
g Many of the selections are dynamic; for example, when you select a data point, the
fields required to further define the data point become instantly available.

The initial view of the

Morningstar Add-In
window for investments
is shown here

In this section, you will learn about the following:

g the features of the Morningstar Add-In window for investments (page 14)
g the layout and output options (page 15)
g creating an spreadsheet entry for an investment (page 16)
g creating a new entry based on an existing entry (page 18)
g creating a time series entry (page 19)
g changing the order of the entries (page 21)
g deleting an entry (page 21)
g submitting the entries to the spreadsheet (page 22)
g opening the Morningstar Add-In window from the spreadsheet (page 23)
g editing an entry (page 24), and
g changing the order of position-locked entries (page 25).

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Features of the Morningstar Add-In window for investments Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In

Features of the Creating spreadsheet entries for investments and data points is a good way to
Morningstar Add-In familiarize yourself with the features and functions of the Morningstar Add-In window.
window for investments This is accomplished in the Morningstar Add-In window.
To open the Morningstar Add-In window, do the following:
1. In a spreadsheet, select the cell in the row and column in which you want your entries to
start (in this sample, cell A:1).
2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Investments icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

3. Notice the following in the Morningstar Add-In window (displayed below):

g The Securities and Portfolio Management tabs are displayed in the Navigation pane
along the left side.
g Both the Securities and Portfolio Management tabs are open (indicated by the down
arrows). Click an arrow to close the Securities or Portfolio Management tab.
g When open, sub-tabs are displayed below the Securities and Portfolio Management
tabs. Each sub-tab allows you to search for specific investment data.
g The large list area displaying the column headings Security, Data Point, and Formula
is the basket. You will add investments to the basket, and then submit them to
your spreadsheet.

Use the Navigation

Pane to access
different types of data

When you enter text in

the Security or
Data Point field, a
drop-down field opens

Your entries for

the spreadsheet will
be displayed in this
area—the basket

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Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In Select the layout and output options for your spreadsheet

The Layout and Output options for a spreadsheet are as follows: Select the layout
and output options
g Row or Column, and
for your spreadsheet
g Show headers.

Your selections in Layout apply to the

entire spreadsheet, not individual entries

The default Layout selection is Column. In a Column layout, each data point is in a
separate column, as shown here.

In column layout, scroll down to view more data

If you prefer to view data horizontally, select Row.

The default Output selection is Show headers. In the spreadsheet, the headers will be
displayed at the top of the columns, as shown here.

Each header displays the data

point’s formula and name, but
not the formula

If you prefer not to display the headers, deselect Show headers and click Submit.

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Create a spreadsheet entry for an investment Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In

Create a spreadsheet When you create an entry, it is displayed in the basket—the list area in the
entry for an investment Morningstar Add-In window. Later, you will submit the entry (or entries) to your
spreadsheet. In this section, you will create entries from the Securities tab on the
Navigation pane.
In its simplest form, a spreadsheet entry for an investment consists of an investment
and an associated data point.
To create a spreadsheet entry for an investment, do the following:
1. In the Morningstar Add-In window, on the Navigation pane, select the Securities tab,
then select Attributes/Time series.
2. In the Security field, enter the name, ticker, or other identifier of the security to add to
the basket. The Security drop-down field opens.
 Note: From the Security drop-down field, you can access funds, stocks, indexes, and
separate accounts.

If you enter only partial

information (such as a
portion of an investment
name), the drop-down
field will display
multiple selections

3. From the Security drop-down field, select a security (in this case, Dodge & Cox Stock).
4. In the Data Point field, enter the name (or partial name) of a Morningstar data point to
associate with the security. The Data Point drop-down field opens.
 Note: Name is recommended for the first data point, as shown here.

The Data Point

drop-down field for
“name” displays the
security’s full name
and short name

Click an Information
icon to read the data
point’s definition

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Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In Create a spreadsheet entry for an investment

5. From the Data Point drop-down field, select a data point (in this case, Name). The
Security and Data Point fields display your selections.
 Note: Depending on the data point you select, other settings may now be displayed. See Data
point parameters associated with investments on page 28 for a list of options in data points
associated with a security.

6. In the upper-right corner of the window, click Add. The Security, Data Point, and Formula
columns in the basket display the information for the newly created entry.
 Note: Entries must be displayed in the basket to be submitted to the spreadsheet.

The information is
in the basket, but
it has not yet
been submitted to
the spreadsheet

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Create an entry based on an existing entry Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In

Create an entry Once you have created an entry for an investment and a data point, you probably
based on an existing entry want to retrieve other data points for the same investment. Keep in mind each data
point must be associated with an investment. For example, you have created an entry
to retrieve the Name data point of a specific investment, and you want to retrieve
another data point for the same investment. Rather than once more selecting the
investment from the drop-down field, you can quickly create the new entry by basing it
on an existing entry.
To use an existing entry as the basis for a new entry, do the following:
1. In the basket, select the existing entry. In this sample, the entry for the security
Dodge & Cox Stock is used as the basis for a new entry for another Dodge & Cox Stock
data point.

The current Security and

Data Point values for the
selected row are displayed

2. In the fields above the basket, click the field you want to change (in this case,
Data Point).

By not changing the Security

field, you can create another
data point for that security

3. Enter the name (or part of the name) of a Morningstar Data Point (in this case,
Investment Type).

If you enter a data point’s

complete full or short name,
the Data Point drop-down field
offers only one selection

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Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In Create a time series entry

4. From the Data Point drop-down field, select a data point. Even if only one data point is
shown on the Data Point drop-down field, you must select it.
 Note: Depending on the data point you select, other fields for parameters for the data point
may now be displayed. See Data point parameters associated with investments on page 28
for a list of data point parameters associated with a security.

5. Click Add. The new data point is added to the basket.

 Note: If an entry is not listed in the basket, it will not be submitted to the spreadsheet.

Entries in the list are

displayed in the order in
which they were created

Many of the Morningstar data points represent a time series; that is, they reference a Create a time series entry
start and end date. All investment entries require a security and a data point, but time
series entries (as well as many other data points) require additional parameters.
To create a time series entry, do the following:
1. In the Security field, enter the name, ticker, or other identifier of a security. The
Security drop-down field opens.
2. From the Security drop-down field, select a security (in this case, return).
3. In the Data Point field, enter the name (or partial name) of a time series Morningstar
data point. The Data Point drop-down field opens, displaying the data points containing
the text you entered.

Note the highlighted selections

4. From the Data Point drop-down field, select a data point (in this case, Daily
Report Index). Additional required fields for the selected data point are displayed in the
top part of the window.

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Create a time series entry Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In

5. Enter text or make a selection for each of the new fields.

 Note: Depending on the data point you select, other parameters may now be displayed.
See Data point parameters associated with investments on page 28 for a list of data points
associated with a time series entry.

In this sample, the

defaults for the data
point Daily Return
Index are shown

6. When you have finished with all the fields, click Add in the upper-right corner of the
window. The security’s exchange, ticker, data point, and formula are displayed in the
basket, below the previous row.
 Note: If an entry is not in the basket, it will not be submitted to the spreadsheet.

The data points are

displayed in the order
in which they were
added to the basket

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Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In Change the order of the entries

In the basket, the rows are displayed in the order in which you create the entries. At Change the
this point, you can change the order, but once you submit the entries to the order of the entries
spreadsheet, re-ordering can only be accomplished on the spreadsheet.
 Note: See Change the order of position-locked entries on page 25 for information on changing
the order of position-locked entries.

To change the order of the entries, do the following:

1. Select a row you want to move
2. In the heading at the top of the Formula column, click an arrow icon. The row moves up
or down, depending on which arrow you clicked.
 Note: If the arrow icons are not displayed, increase the width of the Morningstar Add-In
window and/or the Formula column.

To resize a column, drag its right border

Click a single arrow to move

the row up or down, and a
double arrow to move the
row to the top or bottom of
the list

While working in the Morningstar Add-In window, you can delete an entry by simply Delete an entry
clicking the Delete icon in the Remove column for that row.
In the sample shown here, note the Delete icon at the beginning of each row. Although
the fifth entry is selected, you can delete any entry by clicking its Delete icon,
regardless of what row is selected.

You do not have to select an

entry to click its Delete icon

The result is shown here.

The second entry has

been removed

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Submit the entries to the spreadsheet Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In

Submit the entries Entries listed in the basket do not automatically transfer to the spreadsheet. You must
to the spreadsheet submit the entries to the spreadsheet.
 Note: Keep in mind the difference between Add and Submit. Add creates an entry in the
basket. Submit submits all entries in the basket to the spreadsheet.

To submit your entries to the spreadsheet, click Submit in the lower-right corner of
the window. The Morningstar Add-In window closes.

When you
click Submit,
all entries in
the basket are
sent to the
spreadsheet

The spreadsheet displays the data, which was retrieved from Morningstar Direct.

The column headers display

the security exchange,
ticker, and data point name

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Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In Open the Morningstar Add-In window from the spreadsheet

When viewing the spreadsheet, you can open the Morningstar Add-In window at any Open the Morningstar
time to create more entries, as well as delete and edit existing entries. Add-In window
from the spreadsheet
To open the Morningstar Add-In window, do the following:
1. In your spreadsheet, select the top row. The top row is usually, but not always, the
header row—the row containing the formulas.
 Note: If the layout is set to row, select the left-most column.

Click the row number to

select the entire row

2. Select the Morningstar tab and click the Investments icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

3. Add and/or edit entries.

 Note: For information on editing spreadsheet entries in the basket, go to Edit an entry on
page 24.

4. When you’re finished, be sure to click Submit to send the entries to the spreadsheet.

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© 2020 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved.
Edit an entry Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In

Edit an entry You cannot directly edit an entry in the basket. Instead, create a new entry to replace
the existing entry, and then delete the existing entry, as follows:
1. In the Morningstar Add-In window, select the entry to replace (in this case,
NAS:DODGX, Inv_Type).

The parameters
for the selected
entry are shown
in this area

2. Enter text or make selections in the field(s) you want to change (in this case, the data
point Investment Type is being replaced by Morningstar Analyst Rating).

Note the
highlighted
selections

3. Click Add. The new data point is added to the bottom of the list in the basket.
4. In the row for the entry you are replacing (in this case, NAS:DODGX, Inv_Type), click
the Delete icon.

You do not
have to select
a row to click
its Delete icon

5. Click Submit. The spreadsheet is displayed.

24 Morningstar® Excel Add-In July 2020

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Introduction to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In Change the order of position-locked entries

When using the Morningstar Add-In window with one or more new entries (i.e., Change the order of
entries not yet submitted to the spreadsheet), you can change the order of those position-locked entries
entries using the arrow icons displayed on the Formula column heading. (See Change
the order of the entries on page 21.) However, entries you have submitted to the
spreadsheet have fixed positions, indicated by a Lock icon. This means you cannot to
change the order of those entries in the basket.
When both locked and unlocked entries are shown in the basket, you can re-order
unlocked entries but only within the unlocked entries. You cannot move an unlocked
entry to a position between two locked entries.

These
entries are
locked

To change the order of entries with fixed positions, you must do so in the spreadsheet,
using standard Microsoft Excel procedures, as follows:
1. In the Morningstar Add-In window (if it is open), if you have added or deleted entries to
the basket, be sure to click Submit. Otherwise, close the Morningstar Add-In window.
The spreadsheet is displayed.
2. In the spreadsheet, select the column you want to move.
3. Cut (or copy) the column.
4. Select the column to the right of where you want to paste column.
5. Right-click, then from the drop-down field, select Insert Copied Cells.
6. Select the column you cut or copied, and Delete.

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© 2020 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved.
Overview Retrieving Data for Securities

Retrieving Data for Securities

Overview On the Securities tab of the basket, you can create spreadsheet entries for funds,
stocks, indexes, and separate accounts based on the following:
g attributes and/or time series
g holdings, or
g identifiers.

Note the highlighted selection

In this section, you will learn how to do the following:

g work with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab (page 27)
g work with the Holdings sub-tab (page 30), and
g work with the Identifiers sub-tab (page 33).
Before proceeding, you should familiarize yourself with the information in Introduction
to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In, beginning on page 13.

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Retrieving Data for Securities Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab

On the Attributes/Time series sub-tab, you can create spreadsheet entries based on Working with the
the following: Attributes/Time
series sub-tab
g securities
g data points to associate with the selected securities, and
g additional parameters required by the selected data points.

Note the highlighted selection

Do not confuse the Attributes/Time series sub-tab on the Securities tab with the
same-named sub-tab on the Portfolio Management tab. The difference is as follows:
g On the Securities tab, data is retrieved from a database.
g On the Portfolio Management tab, data is retrieved from a model portfolio created
in Morningstar Direct.
See Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab on page 36 for information on the
Portfolio Management tab.

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Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab Retrieving Data for Securities

Data point parameters associated with investments

Once you have selected an investment, select a data point to associate with the
selected investment.
The fields that define a data point in the Morningstar Excel Add-In are dynamic. In
other words, when you select a data point, other parameter fields may be displayed. In
these fields (which are required), you must make a selection in each field to further
define the parameters of the data point.
For example, when you select the data point Daily Report Index from the Data Point
drop-down field, new fields, such as Start Date, End Date, Sort, etc., open. In each of
these fields, you must make a selection.

Note the
highlighted
selections

The table shown here describes the parameters associated with data points on the
Attributes/Time series sub-tab.
 Note: Not all parameters are used in the samples shown in this document.

Parameter Description

Start Date Start Date has the following options:

g Manually enter a date.
g Enter Dash Codes from the Start Date drop-down field, or
select a relative date, or
g Select a date from a calendar.
End Date End Date has the following options:
g Manually enter a date.
g Enter Dash Codes from the Start Date drop-down field, or
select a relative date, or
g Select a date from a calendar.
Sort Select to sort the values in the column in Descending or
Ascending order.

Show Dates Select Show Dates to display the dates in the spreadsheet
column headings.

Currency Currency has the following options:

g Base Currency, or
g Select a currency from the Currency drop-down field.

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Retrieving Data for Securities Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab

Parameter Description

Frequency Frequency has the following options:

g Daily, or
g Select a frequency from the Frequency drop-down field.
Fill Fill (the returned value for non-trading days) has the
following options:
g Blank, or
g Select a fill from the Fill drop-down field.
Days Days has the following options:
g Trading days/Activity days, or
g Select Calendar days or Week days from the
Days drop-down field.

Return Type Select total, market, post-tax, or other return type.

Annualized Select to annualize returns.

Source Select a source from the Source drop-down field.

Benchmark Enter the name (or partial name) of a benchmark to use to

calculate a custom calculation, then select from the Benchmark
drop-down field.

Risk-free proxy Enter the name (or partial name) of a risk-free proxy to use to
calculate a custom calculation, then select from the Risk-free
proxy drop-down field.

Compounding method Select the compounding method.

Rolling window Select the time period for the calculation.

Window shift Select how often the calculation is performed.

Formulas Display the formula as you fill in parameters.

 Note: Source, Benchmark, Risk-free proxy, Compounding method, Rolling window, and
Window shift are activated when you select a custom calculation data point.

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Working with the Holdings sub-tab Retrieving Data for Securities

Working with the On the Holdings sub-tab, you can create spreadsheet entries based on the following:
Holdings sub-tab
g holdings
g data points to associate with the selected holdings, and
g additional parameters required by the selected data points.
Do not confuse the Holdings sub-tab on the Securities tab with the same-named
sub-tab on the Portfolio Management tab. The difference is as follows:
g On the Securities tab, data is retrieved from a database
g On the Portfolio Management tab, data is retrieved from portfolios created in
Morningstar Direct.
See Working with the Holdings sub-tab on page 41 for information on the Portfolio
Management tab.

Data point parameters associated with holdings

Once you have selected a holding, select a data point to associate with the
selected holding.
The fields that define a data point in the Morningstar Excel Add-In are dynamic. In
other words, when you select a data point, other parameter fields may be displayed. In
these fields (which are required), you must make a selection in each field to further
define the parameters of the data point.
The table shown here describes the parameters associated with data points associated
with holdings.
 Note: Not all parameters are used in the samples shown in this document.

Parameter Description

Position ID From the Position ID drop-down field, select one of

the following:
g SecID
g Ticker
g ISIN, or
g CUSIP.
All selections are equally valid.

Start Date Select a date in the past to show holdings as of that date, by
doing one of the following:
g Manually enter a date.
g Enter Dash Codes from the Start Date drop-down field, or
select a relative date, or
g Select a date from a calendar.

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Retrieving Data for Securities Working with the Holdings sub-tab

Parameter Description

End Date Select the last time period for which you want to see holdings
data for the selected security, by doing one of the following:
g Manually enter a date.
g Enter Dash Codes from the Start Date drop-down field, or
select a relative date, or
g Select a date from a calendar.
Sort Sort has the following options:
g Descend, or
g Ascend.
Show holding name Select to display the holding name in the spreadsheet.

Show detail holding type To display asset type, check Show detail holding type.

Holding Type Holding Type has the following options:

g Stocks
g Bonds, or
g All.
Data Type Data Type has the following options:
g Weight(%)
g Market Value, or
g Number of Shares.
Frequency Frequency has the following options:
g All, or
g Select a frequency from the Frequency drop-down field.
Top N Holding Enter the number of holdings to display.

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© 2020 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved.
Working with the Holdings sub-tab Retrieving Data for Securities

Create spreadsheet entries for holdings

To create spreadsheet entries for holdings, do the following:
1. In a spreadsheet, select the cell in the row and column in which you want your entries to
start (in this sample, cell A:1).
2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Investments icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

3. In the Navigation Pane, select the Securities tab, then select Holdings.

In this sample,
the defaults
for holdings
are shown

4. Starting with the Security field, select a managed product.

5. Fill in each of the fields. See Data point parameters associated with holdings on page 30
to learn about parameters required for data points associated with holdings.
6. When you finish all the fields, click Add in the upper-right corner of the window. The
holding is listed in the basket.
7. Continue creating entries for holdings.
8. When all your entries are complete, click Submit in the lower-right corner of the window
to submit the entries to the spreadsheet.
When you submit multiple holdings, a new spreadsheet is created for each holding and
its data points.

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Retrieving Data for Securities Working with the Identifiers sub-tab

You can retrieve the security identifiers (ticker, SecID, ISIN, etc.) from one of your Working with the
investment lists or saved searches. This is a quick way to create numerous spreadsheet Identifiers sub-tab
entries at once.
When you retrieve security identifiers from an investment list, only the security
identifier appears in the output. The data points from the selected investment list, such
as Return, Category Rank, etc., will not be retrieved. You will need to add each data in
separate calls.
When the source of an entry is an investment list or saved search, data points other
than the security ID cannot be retrieved in the Morningstar Add-In window. To create
data points for identifier entries, use the Morningstar code functions, such as MSDP or
MSTS, in a formula in the spreadsheet.

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Working with the Identifiers sub-tab Retrieving Data for Securities

Create spreadsheet entries from an investment list or saved search

To create spreadsheet entries by retrieving data from an investment list or saved
search, do the following:
1. In a spreadsheet, select the cell in the row and column in which you want your entries to
start (in this sample, cell A:1).
2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Investments icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

3. In the Navigation Pane, select the Securities tab, then select Identifiers. The options
necessary to define an identifier entry are displayed.

Note the highlighted

selections

4. From the Source drop-down field, select one of the following:

g Investment List, or
g Search.
5. When the selected source is Investment List, select one of your investments lists from
the List/Search name drop-down field.
When the selected source is Search, select one of your saved searches from the
List/Search name drop-down field.

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Retrieving Data for Securities Working with the Identifiers sub-tab

6. From the Security ID drop-down field, select one of the following to be displayed in
the spreadsheet:
g SecId
g Ticker
g ISIN, or
g CUSIP.
 Note: These are the only data points you can retrieve for an identifier entry.

7. In the upper-right corner of the window, click Add. The name of the investment list or
saved search is listed in the basket.

When the source is an investment

list or saved search, the name of
the list or search is displayed in the
Security column

8. When all your entries are complete, click Submit in the lower-right corner of the window
to submit the entries to the spreadsheet.
In the Morningstar Add-In, the basket displayed a single entry for each source (an
investment list or saved search) in the Security column; however in the spreadsheet,
the security ID of each security from the source is displayed in a separate row.

When an investments list is the source, only

the security ID data points are retrieved, even
though other data points may be present the
investment list in Morningstar Direct

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© 2020 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved.
Overview Retrieving Morningstar Data from a Portfolio

Retrieving Morningstar Data from a Portfolio

Overview On the Portfolio Management tab within the Morningstar Excel Add-In, you can create
spreadsheet entries retrieved from the following:
g accounts
g custom benchmarks to which you have constituent rights
g model portfolios, and
g holdings.
On the Portfolio Management tab, all of the above are referred to as objects.
 Note: To retrieve data using the Portfolio Management tab, you need to have already saved
the accounts, custom benchmarks, models portfolios, and/or holdings files in the Portfolio
Management module in Morningstar Direct.

In this section, you will learn how to work with the following functions from the
Portfolio Management tab:
g work with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab, and
g work with the Holdings sub-tab.
Before proceeding, you should familiarize yourself with the information in Introduction
to Working with Investments in the Morningstar Excel Add-In, beginning on page 13.

Working with the In its simplest form, a spreadsheet entry for an object consists of an object and
Attributes/Time an associated data point. You will select these from the drop-down fields in the
series sub-tab Morningstar Add-In window.
On the Attributes/Time series sub-tab, you can create spreadsheet entries based on the
following objects:
g account
g custom benchmark to which you have constituent rights, or
g model portfolio.
With each of the above, you will also make selections from the account and data point
drop-down fields.

Account is
the default
selection
from the
Object
drop-down
field

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Retrieving Morningstar Data from a Portfolio Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab

Do not confuse the Attributes/Time series sub-tab on the Portfolio Management tab
with the same-named sub-tab on the Securities tab. The difference is as follows:
g On the Securities tab, data is retrieved from a database.
g On the Portfolio Management tab, data is retrieved from portfolios created in
Morningstar Direct.
See Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab on page 27 for information on the
Securities tab.

Data point parameters associated with an object

Once you have selected an account, custom benchmark, or model portfolio, select a
data point to associate with the selected object.
The fields that define a data point in the Morningstar Excel Add-In are dynamic. In
other words, when you select a data point, other parameter fields may be displayed. In
these fields (which are required), you must make a selection in each field to further
define the parameters of the data point.
The table shown here describes parameters associated with data points on the
Attributes/Time series sub-tab.

Parameter Description

Start Date Select a date in the past to show values beginning at that date,
by doing one of the following:
g Manually enter a date.
g Enter Dash Codes from the Start Date drop-down field, or
select a relative date, or
g Select a date from a calendar.
End Date Select the last time period for which you want to see values for
the selected object, by doing one of the following:
g Manually enter a date.
g Enter Dash Codes from the Start Date drop-down field, or
select a relative date, or
g Select a date from a calendar.
Sort Select to sort data in Descending or Ascending order.

Show Dates To display dates, select Show Dates to display dates.

Currency Currency has the following options:

g Base Currency, or
g Select a currency from the Currency drop-down field.
Frequency Frequency has the following options:
g Daily, or
g Select a frequency from the Frequency drop-down field.

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Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab Retrieving Morningstar Data from a Portfolio

Parameter Description

Fill Fill (the returned value for non-trading days) has the
following options:
g Blank, or
g Select a fill from the Fill drop-down field.
Days Days has the following options:
g Trading days/Activity days, or
g Select Calendar days or Week days from the
Days drop-down field.

Return Type Select total, market, post-tax, or other return type.

Annualized Select to annualize returns.

Source Select a source from the Source drop-down field.

Benchmark Enter the name (or partial name) of a benchmark to use to

calculate a custom calculation, then select from the Benchmark
drop-down field.

Risk-free proxy Enter the name (or partial name) of a risk-free proxy to use to
calculate a custom calculation, then select from the Risk-free
proxy drop-down field.

Compounding method Select the compounding method.

Rolling window Select the time period for the calculation.

Window shift Select how often the calculation is performed.

Formulas Display the formula as you fill in parameters.

 Note: Benchmark, Risk-free proxy, Compounding method, Rolling window, and Window shift
are activated when you select a custom calculation data point.

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Retrieving Morningstar Data from a Portfolio Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab

Create spreadsheet entries from an account, custom benchmark, or model portfolio

To create a spreadsheet entry from an account, custom benchmark, or model portfolio,
do the following:
1. In a spreadsheet, select the cell in the row and column in which you want your entries to
start (in this sample, cell A:1).
2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Investments icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

3. In the Navigation Pane, select the Portfolio Management tab, then select the
Attributes/Time series sub-tab. The fields Object, Accounts, and Data Point
are displayed above the basket.

Note the
highlighted
selections

4. From the Object drop-down field, select one of the following:

g Account
g Custom Benchmark, or
g Model Portfolio.
5. When the selected object is Account, select one of your accounts from the Accounts
drop-down field.
When the selected object is Custom Benchmark, select one of your custom benchmarks
from the Accounts drop-down field.
When the selected object is Model Portfolio, select one of your model portfolios from
the Accounts drop-down field.

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© 2020 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved.
Working with the Attributes/Time series sub-tab Retrieving Morningstar Data from a Portfolio

6. In the Data Point field, enter the name of a Morningstar data point to associate with
the selected object. A list of matching data points appears as you type.
 Note: Using “Name” as the first data point is recommended.

7. When you finish filling in the fields for the data point you selected, click Add in the
upper-right corner of the window. The name of the investment list or saved search is
listed in the basket, along with the data point and formula.
 Note: See Data point parameters associated with an object on page 37 to learn about the
selections in the Data Point drop-down field

In this sample, the object is

a model portfolio, John
Smith IRA is the account,
and the data points are
Name and Return Date
Month End

8. Continue creating entries to see other accounts, custom benchmarks, and/or

model portfolios.
9. When all your entries are complete, click Submit in the lower-right corner of the window
to submit the entries to the spreadsheet.
 Note: When you create a spreadsheet entry from an object (account, custom benchmark, or
model portfolio), the object name is displayed in the spreadsheet, but not the individual
investments in the selected object.

The header row

displays the ID
code and the
name of the
data point

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Retrieving Morningstar Data from a Portfolio Working with the Holdings sub-tab

On the Holdings sub-tab of the Portfolio Management tab, you can create spreadsheet Working with the
entries based on holdings in the following objects: Holdings sub-tab
g an account
g a custom benchmark, and
g a model portfolio.
Do not confuse the Holdings sub-tab on the Portfolio Management tab with the
same-named sub-tab on the Securities tab. The difference is as follows:
g On the Securities tab, data is retrieved from Morningstar data.
g On the Portfolio Management tab, data is retrieved from objects created in
Morningstar Direct.
See Working with the Holdings sub-tab on page 30 for information on the Holdings tab.

Create spreadsheet entries from holdings in an object

To create spreadsheet entries by retrieving data from holdings in an object, do
the following:
1. In a spreadsheet, select the cell in the row and column in which you want your entries to
start (in this sample, cell A:1).
2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Investments icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

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Working with the Holdings sub-tab Retrieving Morningstar Data from a Portfolio

3. In the Navigation Pane, select the Portfolio Management tab, then select the Holdings
sub-tab. The options necessary to define a holding entry are displayed.

Note the
highlighted
selections

4. From the Object drop-down field, select one of the following:

g Account
g Custom Benchmark, or
g Model Portfolio.
5. From the Accounts drop-down field, select an account within the object you selected in
step 4.
6. From, the Position ID drop-down field, select one of the following:
g SecID
g Ticker
g ISIN, or
g CUSIP.
7. Fill in the remaining fields. See Data point parameters associated with holdings on
page 30 to learn about the various parameters required for data points associated
with holdings.
8. When you have finished with all the fields, click Add in the upper-right corner of the
window. The holding is listed in the basket.
9. Continue creating entries for holdings
10. When all your entries are complete, click Submit in the lower-right corner of the window
to submit the entries to the spreadsheet.

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Introduction to Working with Economic Data in the Morningstar Excel Add-In Overview

Introduction to Working with Economic Data in the Morningstar Excel Add-In

With the Morningstar Excel Add-In, you can retrieve the most influential economic Overview
indicators (such as GDP, Jobs, etc.) by keyword to access the latest and most reliable
data, powered by the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) and Action Economics.
In the Morningstar Excel Add-In, retrieving economic indicators is done via the
Morningstar Add-In window where you can do the following:
g search for economic indicators
g access multiple economic indicators and add them to your spreadsheet all at
once, and
g edit the settings and data points associated with an economic indicator.

The initial view of the

Morningstar Add-In
window for economic
indicators is shown here

In this section, you will learn how to work with the features of the Morningstar Add-In
window for economic indicators.

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Features of the Morningstar Add-In window for economic indicators Introduction to Working with Economic Data in the Morningstar Excel

Features of Before you begin using the Morningstar Excel Add-In to retrieve economic indicators
the Morningstar for a spreadsheet, you should be familiar with the features of the Morningstar Add-In
Add-In window window (described in this section).
for economic indicators
To open the Morningstar Add-In window, do the following:
1. In a spreadsheet, select the cell in which you want your entries to start.
2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Economic Data icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

3. Notice the following in the Morningstar Add-In window (displayed below):

g In the Search field at the top of the window, you can search by keyword or
MSECON function.
g The Indicators list displays commonly used economic indicators from which you
can select.
g The Preview tab displays the indicators you select for your spreadsheet
g The Settings tab displays options for the selected indicator(s).
g The +Data tab displays data point options for the selected indicator(s).

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Retrieving Economic Data Overview

Retrieving Economic Data

Before proceeding, you should familiarize yourself with the information in Introduction Overview
to Working with Economic Data in the Morningstar Excel Add-In, beginning on
page 43.
In this section, you will learn how to do the following:
g create spreadsheet entries for economic indicators (page 45)
g add an entry to a spreadsheet (page 51)
g use search to create a new entry (page 54)
g edit an entry (page 56), and
g delete an entry (page 58).

You can create spreadsheet entries in the following ways: Create

spreadsheet entries
g select an entry or entries from the Indicators list (described in this section), or
for economic indicators
g search for keywords (described in Use search to create a spreadsheet entry on
page 54).
To create spreadsheet entries from the default Indicators list, do the following:
1. In a spreadsheet, select the cell in which you want your entries to start.
2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Economic Data icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

 Note: (Optional) In the Morningstar Add-In window, click the arrow at the beginning of any
entry in the Indicators list. A row opens, displaying the formula for the indicator.

Note the
highlighted
selection

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© 2020 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved.
Create spreadsheet entries for economic indicators Retrieving Economic Data

3. Select indicator(s) from the default list by clicking the checkbox at the beginning of
each row you want to include. The selected indicator(s) are displayed in the Preview tab.
 Note: The options you select in the Settings and +Data tabs (in steps 4–8) will be applied to all
selected indicators. If you want to select different options for an individual indicator, select
only that indicator, then proceed to steps 4–8.

To select all
indicators in the
list, click here

Note the counts

displayed here

The selected
indicators are
displayed in the
Preview tab

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Retrieving Economic Data Create spreadsheet entries for economic indicators

4. In the bottom portion of the window, select the Settings tab. The Settings tab opens.

You can select

and deselect
indicators while
displaying any
tab (Preview,
Settings, or
+Data)

The initial display

shows the
default options
for settings

5. Modify the selections on the Settings tab, keeping in mind that the selections will be
applied to all the economic indicators you have selected.
 Note: See Options on the Settings tab on page 50 for information on the Settings tab.

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Create spreadsheet entries for economic indicators Retrieving Economic Data

6. In the bottom portion of the window, select the +Data tab. The +Data tab opens.

You can select

and deselect
indicators while
displaying any
tab (Preview,
Settings, or
+Data)

The initial display

shows the
default options
for settings

7. Modify the selections on the +Data tab, keeping in mind keeping in mind that the
selections will be applied to all the economic indicators you have selected.
 Note: See Options on the +Data tab on page 51 for information on the +Data tab.

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Retrieving Economic Data Create spreadsheet entries for economic indicators

8. Click Ok. The Morningstar Add-In window closes and the spreadsheet is displayed.
 Note: The default column widths are controlled by Microsoft Excel so it is likely some of the
data will not fit.

The # symbols indicate the data

output is too large for the cell

9. Select cell A:1. The cell’s formula is displayed in the Formula Bar.
 Note: In the Formula bar, the portion of the formula displayed between quotation marks
represents the selection from the Morningstar Add-In window.

In many cases, the full

formula will not fit in
the Formula bar.

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Create spreadsheet entries for economic indicators Retrieving Economic Data

Options on the Settings tab

The table shown here describes the options on the Settings tab.

Option Action

As of date Select a date in the past to show economic indicators as of that date,
by doing one of the following:
g Manually enter a date.
g From the Start Date drop-down field, select a relative date, or
g Select a date from a calendar.
Start date Select a date in the past to show economic indicators starting on that
date, by doing one of the following:
g Manually enter a date.
g Enter Dash Codes from the Start Date drop-down field, or select a
relative date, or
g Select a date from a calendar.
End date Select the last time period for which you want to see economic
indicators data, by doing one of the following:
g Manually enter a date.
g Enter Dash Codes from the Start Date drop-down field, or select a
relative date, or
g Select a date from a calendar.
Layout Select Column or Row.

Show dates Deselect to hide dates.

Days Days has the following options:

g Trading days/Activity days
g Calendar days, or
g Week days.
Show Correction Select to include corrected values in the series output. If left
unselected, corrections to the economic indicators during the time
series will not be reflected in the spreadsheet.

Sort Ascending Select to sort output in ascending order. Data is displayed in

descending order by default.

Clear Worksheet Select to clear data in worksheet prior to output.

Show all versions Select to display all versions of the data.

Latest Value Select to display the latest value of the data. This setting overrides As
of date, Start date, and End date.

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Retrieving Economic Data Add an entry to a spreadsheet

Options on the +Data tab

The table shown here describes the options on the +Data -tab.

Option Action

Title Select to display the title of the economic indicator (such as 10-Year
Treasury Constant Maturity Rate).

Frequency Select to display the frequency with which the source publishes the
data.

Publish Source Select to display the source of data.

Published Units Select to display the units in which the data is expressed
(percentage, numbers, etc.).

Release Select to display the release date of data

Date Range Select to display the first date of historical data to present.

Seasonal Adjustment Select to indicate that data is seasonally adjusted.

Last Updated Select to display the date of last update of data.

When adding an entry to a spreadsheet, always select an empty cell where you want Add an entry
the entry you are adding to begin. If you select a cell that contains content, that to a spreadsheet
content will be overwritten. Depending on how many entries you created and the
options selected in the Settings and +Data tabs, other cells in the row as well as cells
in subsequent rows could also be overwritten.
To create a new spreadsheet entry, do the following:
1. In the spreadsheet, select an empty cell (in this case, cell G:1).
 Note: Although text may appear to be displayed in the selected cell (as shown below), it is
actually continued text from the adjacent cell (in this case, F:1). When an empty cell is
selected, the Formula bar is empty.

If you select a cell that is not

empty, its content will be
replaced by the new
spreadsheet entry you create

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Add an entry to a spreadsheet Retrieving Economic Data

2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Economic Data icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

 Note: When you open the Morningstar Add-In window from an empty cell, the Preview tab
displays the default Indicators list (shown below). If you open the Morningstar Add-In window
from a cell with content, that content is reflected in the Preview window.

Scroll down
to view more
of the list

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Retrieving Economic Data Add an entry to a spreadsheet

3. Select an indicator (or indicators) to add to the spreadsheet. The selected indicator is
shown in the Preview tab at the bottom portion of the window.

Note the
highlighted
selections

4. Select the Settings tab and make any necessary changes to the options displayed.
 Note: See Options on the Settings tab on page 50 for information on the Settings tab.

5. Open the +Data tab and make any necessary changes to the options displayed.
 Note: See Options on the +Data tab on page 51 for information on the +Data tab.

6. Click Ok. The spreadsheet is displayed with the new entries’ display starting in the cell
you selected in step 1 on page 51.

The new entry begins

in the selected cell (in
this case, G:1)

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Use search to create a spreadsheet entry Retrieving Economic Data

Use search to create The search function allows you to find indicators by keyword, such as GDP (Gross
a spreadsheet entry Domestic Product) or EPI (Economic Performance Index).
To use search to create a new spreadsheet entry, do the following:
1. In the spreadsheet, select an empty cell (in this case, cell I:1).
 Note: Although text may appear to be displayed in the selected cell (as shown below), it is
actually continued text from the adjacent cell (in this case, H:1). When an empty cell is
selected, the Formula bar is empty.

If you select a cell

that is not empty,
its content will be
replaced by the
new spreadsheet
entry you create

2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Economic Data icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

3. In the search field, enter a keyword (in this case, GDP).

4. Press <ENTER>. The Indicators list refreshes and displays indicators for the keyword.

Note the
highlighted
selection

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Retrieving Economic Data Use search to create a spreadsheet entry

5. Select an indicator (or indicators) to add to the spreadsheet by clicking its checkbox. The
selected indicator is displayed on the Preview tab.

Note the
highlighted
selections

6. Select the Settings tab and make any necessary changes to the options displayed.
 Note: See Options on the Settings tab on page 50 for information on the Settings tab.

7. Select the +Data tab and make any necessary changes to the options displayed.
 Note: See Options on the +Data tab on page 51 for information on the +Data tab.

8. Click Ok. The spreadsheet is displayed with the new entries’ display starting in the cell
you selected in step 1 on page 54.

The new entry

begins in the
selected cell (in
this case, I:1)

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Edit an entry Retrieving Economic Data

Edit an entry You can edit an entry’s options on the Settings and +Data tabs in the Morningstar
Add-In window.
To edit an entry, do the following:
1. In the spreadsheet, select the top cell of an existing entry’s column (in this case, C:1).
The Format bar displays the content of the selected cell.
 Note: In this sample, the values in cell C:3 (As of date) and column E will be changed.

The Formula bar

displays the formula
for the selected cell

2. On the Morningstar ribbon, click the Economic Data icon. The Morningstar Add-In
window opens.

Note the highlighted selections

The entry for

the selected
cell is displayed
in the Indicators
list and in the
Preview tab

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Retrieving Economic Data Edit an entry

3. Select the Settings tab and make any necessary changes to the options displayed. In
this sample, the As of date has been changed to Last Market Close.

Note the highlighted selections

 Note: See Options on the Settings tab on page 50 for information on the Settings tab.

4. Select the +Data tab and make any necessary changes to the options displayed. In this
sample, the Title checkbox has been enabled.
 Note: See Options on the +Data tab on page 51 for information on the +Data tab.

Note the highlighted selections

5. Click Ok. The spreadsheet is displayed. Note the following:

g In cell C:3, the As of date (which was 1/26/2017) now reflects the last market close
(2/13/2017)
g A new column (column E) has been added to display the Title, and
g The data previously displayed in column E and columns to its right now occupy
column F and the columns to its right.

Note the highlighted

selections

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Delete an entry Retrieving Economic Data

Delete an entry In the Morningstar Add-In window, when you have not yet sent your entries to the
spreadsheet, they can be deleted. However, if the entries are in the spreadsheet, they
cannot be deleted from the Morningstar Add-In window. Instead, use standard
Microsoft Excel procedures (not covered in this document) to delete them.
To delete an entry, do the following:
1. In the Morningstar Add-In window, delete an entry by doing one of the following:
g In the Indicators list, deselect the entry’s checkbox, or
g In the Preview tab, click the Delete icon.

Note the
highlighted
selections

2. If you are finished creating and deleting entries in the Morningstar Add-In window,
click Ok. The spreadsheet opens and the entries you did not delete are now in
the spreadsheet.

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