QuickStart Guide to

Morningstar Direct

Onboarding Guide

Direct
Copyright © 2020 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.
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 Direct January 2020

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Contents

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

Navigating in Morningstar Direct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
How is Morningstar Direct designed to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Understanding the Home Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Where can updates to the application be found? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Can the arrangement of the widgets on the Home page be changed? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Understanding the Equity/Credit Research Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
How do I find Equity/Credit research data in the web-based version of Morningstar Direct?11

Understanding the Local and Global Databases Modules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
How are these modules intended to be used?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
What are the differences between the Local/Global Databases modules and the Workspace module?13

Understanding the Performance Reporting Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
What are the basic steps involved in creating a performance report? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Understanding the Asset Allocation Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Understanding the Portfolio Management Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Understanding the Portfolio Analysis Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Understanding the Markets Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Understanding the Asset Flows Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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Contents

Understanding the Presentation Studio Module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Understanding the Risk Model Analysis Module . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Understanding the Workspace Module. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
How is this module intended to be used? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

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QuickStart Guide to Morningstar DirectSM

Morningstar DirectSM delivers investment vision. It’s a global investment analysis Overview
platform uniting all of Morningstar’s data and institutional research, private and
third-party content, rigorous analytics, and productivity tools.
In this manual, you will learn some basic information about Morningstar Direct,
including the following:
g Basic navigation of the application, and
g What each module in Morningstar Direct does and why you would use it.
You can also check out our role-based library to select the training program that
best describes your role.
Morningstar Direct offers
a wealth of research and
presentation capabilities.

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Navigating in Morningstar Direct Overview

Navigating in Morningstar Direct

This section explains how Morningstar Direct is organized as an application, and how Overview
to move through the application.

Morningstar Direct is composed of a number of modules. These modules can be used How is
independently, but also interact with one another. After logging in to the application, Morningstar Direct
the Home module is selected by default. The names of the other modules are seen in designed to be used?
the left-hand side of the window. Click the name of a module to access its features
and functionality.

Although the Home

module is selected by
default, all of the other
modules can be
accessed via this pane.

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Navigating in Morningstar Direct How is Morningstar Direct designed to be used?

Within each module are a series of pages; some pages are in folders or sub-folders.
Select a page to use its specific capability.

Some pages might

be nested under a
folder or sub-folder.

Many pages in Morningstar Direct are depicted as a grid view, with rows of
investments (or other items, such as portfolios or saved reports) and columns of data.
Above the grid view is a toolbar, with an Action menu and several icons. The menu
options and icons vary from module to module.

The Action menu

and toolbar icons
allow you to easily
work with data
in a grid view.

A grid view displays

data similar to what
you would see
in a spreadsheet.

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Understanding the Home Module Overview

Understanding the Home Module

The Home module of Morningstar Direct provides a landing page (the Home page) for Overview
users upon logging into the application, as well as access to the Learning Center and
the Morningstar® Excel Add-In tool. This section details some of the most important
features of the Home module.

The Home module informs users about changes to the application, from month-end How is this module
data updates to program enhancements. The Home module also contains the intended to be used?
Learning Center, a resource with valuable content to help users learn how to use
Morningstar Direct and make the best use of your subscription.
The Content Catalog page is another key aspect of the Home module. From here, users
can set the entitlement privileges for various index providers to ensure access is
granted to the proper level of data when comparing investments to indexes. It’s best to
work with your Customer Success Manager when configuring these settings.
Additionally, the download link to install the Morningstar Excel Add-In is also found
under the Home module. The Morningstar Excel Add-In allows users to access data
from the Morningstar databases for further calculation, formatting or charting. The
Morningstar Excel Add-In has its own onboarding guide and training guide.

The Morningstar
Excel Add-In can be
installed from this page.

Setting up the
Content Catalog page is
a key step for new users.

Visit the Learning Center

to learn about using
Morningstar Direct.

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Understanding the Home Module Where can updates to the application be found?

Features of Morningstar Direct are updated at least quarterly. Whenever a new update Where can updates to
is released, a notice is posted in the Announcements widget of the Home page. Click the application be found?
the announcement to read details about the features and data in the new release.
The Announcements widget contains other important alerts related to data in
Morningstar Direct, so be sure to review this area at least weekly.

Look for release

announcements
in this widget.

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Understanding the Home Module Can the arrangement of the widgets on the Home page be changed?

The position of some widgets (such as Announcements) are fixed on the Home page, Can the arrangement
and they cannot be removed or repositioned. Other widgets can be added, removed, of the widgets on
and repositioned. To add or remove a widget, simply click the Customize this page the Home page
button in the upper-right corner of the Home page. From the dialog box that opens, be changed?
simply check or clear the checkbox next to the widget(s) to be shown or hidden.

Use this button and the

accompanying dialog box to
turn certain widgets on or off.

To reposition a widget, simply move your mouse over the widget’s header, then
drag-and-drop it into a new location.

When this icon turns to

a green checkmark,
release the mouse button
to place the widget
in its new location.

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Understanding the Equity/Credit Research Module Overview

Understanding the Equity/Credit Research Module

The Equity/Credit Research module surfaces insight from Morningstar on stocks, Overview
corporate fixed-income securities, earnings estimates, and more. Users looking for the
latest Morningstar analyst research on specific investments, or insight on broader
investment categories such as a stock sector, the Equity/Credit Research module is the
place to locate this information. This content is available from the web-based version of
Morningstar Direct.

To access the equity or credit research content from the web-based version of How do I find
Morningstar Direct, do the following: Equity/Credit
1. Open a web browser, and go to [Link]
research data in the
web-based version
2. Log in using the same credentials you use to login to the desktop version of the of Morningstar Direct?
application.
3. Hover the cursor over the in the top left corner, then select Research.

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 How do I find Equity/Credit research data in the web-based version
Understanding the Equity/Credit Research Module of Morningstar Direct?

4. In the left-hand navigation pane, select Publications.

5. On the Publications page, click a tile related to either equity or credit research.

The Publications page offers a number of

tiles related to equity and credit research.

6. Click an article to read it.

Click the name of an article to read it.

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Understanding the Local and Global Databases Modules Overview

Understanding the Local and Global Databases Modules

The Local Databases and Global Databases modules allow users to find data points for Overview
a variety of investments, indexes, category averages, and more. The Local Databases
module contains investments domiciled in the home country set in your application
preferences, while the Global Databases module contains all global securities.

The Local Databases and Global Databases modules are used most often when a data How are these modules
point (for example, P/E Ratio, Annual Net Expense Ratio, or 3 Yr % Rank in Category) for intended to be used?
an investment needs to be found quickly, without the need to see a customized data
set, or view a saved list of investments.

The Local Databases & Global

Databases modules display a
grid view with access
to thousands of data points.

Both the Local and Global Databases modules and the Workspace module allow What are the differences
users to conduct research on different investment types. A key distinction, however, between the Local/Global
is that in the Local and Global Databases modules, a user can see only one Databases modules and
investment type at a time, while the Workspace module allows users to search the Workspace module?
across multiple investment types.
For example, in the Local Databases module, users can create a search to look for
either open-end funds or exchange-traded funds, but not both simultaneously. In the
Workspace module, however, it is possible to create a search for both open-end funds
and exchange-traded funds at once. The Workspace module has other unique features
not found in the Local/Global Databases modules; these are covered in Understanding
the Workspace Module on page 22.
Another aspect setting the Local and Global Databases modules apart from the
Workspace module is the availability of data on ownership analysis, economic
indicators, and exchange rates in the former, but not the latter.

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Understanding the Performance Reporting Module Overview

Understanding the Performance Reporting Module

Performance Reporting is specifically designed to monitor the performance of Overview

investments organized into groupings based on a user’s classifications. For example, a
user may want to see funds grouped by Morningstar Category, or all large-cap funds
could be grouped together. Users can assign benchmarks, define data points to display
on the report, and perform ranking analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative factors
can be applied to the report. Users can also implement a scorecard using standardized
values or custom grades to further monitor investments.

The Performance Reporting module allows users to build a custom report within How is this module
Morningstar Direct where the rows of investments and columns of data points are intended to be used?
defined. This might sound similar to using a search or list and then building a custom
data set in the Workspace module, but the Performance Reporting module not only
makes it easier to define time periods and allows custom grouping options for rows,
but also enables users to add conditional formatting (that is., color) to rows or cells and
includes a Scorecard feature to help analyze the information being displayed.

Creating a performance report in Morningstar Direct takes the following basic steps: What are the basic
1. Select the investments to display on the report. This might involve the use of an existing
steps involved in creating
list or search created in the Workspace module. a performance report?
2. Choose the groupings and peer groups to use, as well as the benchmarks for the report.
3. Set the time periods to depict on the report, and the performance or rank data points to
display in each time period. The time periods could be static windows, such as the
trailing 1-, 3-, or 5-year periods, or you can create rolling windows, or more.
4. What supplementary data points should be included on the report? These might include
an investment’s ticker symbol, Morningstar Analyst Rating, or any of the other
thousands of data points available in Morningstar Direct.
5. Optionally, include conditional formatting to call out important information.
6. Optionally, use a scorecard to help analyze the data displayed on the report.

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Understanding the Asset Allocation Module Overview

Understanding the Asset Allocation Module

The quality of a portfolio’s optimization depends on the quality of input assumptions— Overview
a reliable set of expectations about return, risk, and correlations is absolutely essential.
In the Asset Allocation module, Morningstar Direct offers multiple models to develop
and test capital market assumptions, including Black-Litterman, CAPM, historical, and
more. Scenario-based simulation is available, without the time and storage constraints
due to the data requirements. Non-normal distribution assumptions for capital markets
can also be incorporated.
Although the Asset Allocation module is accessed in the desktop version of
Morningstar Direct, the work done in this module is actually performed in the cloud, at
[Link] A browser window opens automatically when
certain capabilities of this module are accessed, and users need to login using the
same credentials for the desktop version of Morningstar Direct.

Users can re-purpose the asset

allocation models created here
when building portfolios in the
Portfolio Management module,
which allows them to conduct
Total Portfolio Attribution analysis
in the Portfolio Analysis module.

The Asset Allocation module should used when users need to perform one of the How is this module
following use cases: intended to be used?
g traditional mean-variance optimization (MVO)
g liability-driven optimization, or
g to change the traditional asset allocation goals to focus on downside risk,
multi-period returns, or other factors.
As the markets have shown, real-life finance is often more complex than the
mathematical models used in the standard approaches to portfolio optimization. The
methodology here from Morningstar includes the following benefits:
g replaces a single period of expected return with the long-term, forward-looking
geometric mean
g substitutes conditional VAR (or another risk metric) for standard deviation
g replaces the covariance matrix with a scenario-based model, and
g exploits new statistical technologies.

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Understanding the Portfolio Management Module Overview

Understanding the Portfolio Management Module

Portfolio Management is an area to create, analyze, and manage model portfolios, Overview
custom benchmarks, and accounts. Users can also create account groups (that is.,
structured account organizations) for easier account management.

When users need to create model portfolios, client accounts, or custom benchmarks for How is this module
those items, the Portfolio Management module is the tool to do all of this, and more. intended to be used?
Portfolios and accounts can be manually created, or via a simple import process.
The portfolios or accounts created here can be reused in other parts of Morningstar
Direct. For example, compare an existing portfolio to a recommended lineup in
Presentation Studio, or use Presentation Studio to compare two model portfolios with
slightly different investment lineups. Users also have the option to conduct either
single-portfolio attribution for individual funds, or total portfolio attribution via the
Portfolio Analysis module.

Click this icon to

import a portfolio.

This module allows you

to create more than
just client accounts.

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Understanding the Portfolio Analysis Module Overview

Understanding the Portfolio Analysis Module

The attribution analysis capabilities in the Portfolio Analysis module allow users to see Overview
how decisions contributed to investment results. Morningstar Direct supports
sophisticated analysis at the manager or asset-class level, using a multi-decision
hierarchy to model the portfolio decision-making process. Morningstar Direct combines
the comprehensive methodologies needed to evaluate performance with rich graphics
to allow users to quickly interpret the data.

Performance attribution is a well-recognized, quantitative approach to identifying the How is this module
impact of a portfolio manager’s sector bets, regional allocations, stock selection, and intended to be used?
more. The Portfolio Analysis module allows users to conduct single-portfolio equity
attribution. This is offered via a website which you can launch from Morningstar Direct.
You can also visit it directly by going to [Link]

The Portfolio
Analysis module
allows you to
conduct equity
attribution analysis
on a single portfolio

With Total Portfolio Attribution from Morningstar Direct, users can identify the
performance impact attributable to a strategic asset allocation policy itself. Then,
examine the outcome of deliberate deviations from policy weights done to take
advantage of market conditions. Measure a manager's skill in picking investments in
aggregate, or by asset class or investment style. Non-skill-based measures, such as
fees, are isolated to preserve the purity of skill-based decisions, allowing users to
measure the value delivered by consultants relative to the fees incurred.

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Understanding the Markets Module Overview

Understanding the Markets Module

Similar to the Asset Allocation and Portfolio Analysis modules, the Markets module is Overview
located online. The overview content on the markets can be accessed from this link:
[Link]

The Markets module allows users to gain a perspective of market performance by How is this module
streaming real-time data. Follow all major exchanges with intraday quotes, charting, intended to be used?
qualitative analysis, and the latest news. Use the pre-built workspaces, or create
custom pages with selected components. Each component also offers a Settings
button which is used to manipulate the data displayed in the component.

This icon allows

components to
be added
to the page.

A heat map
shows the best
and worst sectors
of the market.

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Understanding the Asset Flows Module Overview

Understanding the Asset Flows Module

The Asset Flows module supplies critical knowledge for monitoring broad investor Overview
trends, performing competitive analysis, developing new products, and marketing
managed investment products. It delivers comprehensive estimated cash flow and
market share data for a variety of investment types across multiple geographical
markets. Fund marketing professionals, financial analysts, and the media rely on this
data to track trends in the asset management industry.

The Asset Flows module enables users to evaluate investor behavior by monitoring the How is this module
movement of money in and out of different asset classes and funds. The sooner it’s intended to be used?
known what investors are doing, the more quickly trends can be identified, or
investors’ needs can be responded to. Monthly PDF commentaries also enable users to
stay current with industry trends. Asset flow data for U.S. open-end funds are typically
published by the eighth business day after month-end.
The module tracks not only open-end funds but separate accounts, ETFs, and insurance
products as well. In addition, combine flow statistics with Morningstar Direct’s
historical performance, risk, operations, holdings, and proprietary statistics to drive
insightful research.

This module breaks down

asset flow data by multiple
factors (fund family,
Morningstar Category, etc.),
and allowing users to retrieve
flow data for saved lists (from
the Workspace module).

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Understanding the Presentation Studio Module Overview

Understanding the Presentation Studio Module

The insight gained from the rest of Morningstar Direct is meaningless unless it can Overview
clearly communicated. Presentation Studio allows users to easily create professional,
custom-branded factsheets and presentations, appropriate for their audiences. Start
with a pre-built Morningstar template, or design one your own. All templates can be
saved for re-use later. Drag-and-drop functionality makes it easy to move, add, or
remove components to suit specific needs. Incorporate company logos, colors, fonts,
and custom disclaimers.

Presentation Studio allows users to create factsheets for individual investments or How is this module
multiple-investment workbooks, using Morningstar data or imported proprietary intended to be used?
investment data. Presentation Studio features a library of professionally designed
charts and data tables to clearly communicate complex investment analysis. Easily
build custom data tables and configure any chart to show only information relevant to
a specific analysis. Available report components include portfolio holdings tables,
performance attribution charts and tables, correlation matrices, and more.
Each report created, as well as individual report components, can be saved as Adobe
PDF documents or exported to Microsoft® PowerPoint® files for easy sharing
and distribution.

Presentation Studio
includes dozens of
templates developed by
Morningstar experts, or
users can build their own.

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Understanding the Risk Model Analysis Module Overview

Understanding the Risk Model Analysis Module

Like the Asset Allocation and Portfolio Analysis modules, the Risk Model Analysis Overview
module in the desktop version of Morningstar Direct is a portal to an online version of
the application. The Morningstar Risk Model capabilities there offer users access to a
number of charts and tables reflecting data from the Morningstar Risk Models. Read
more about the Morningstar Risk Models here.

The Risk Model Analysis module offers users the ability to see the exposure of funds How is this module
and portfolio objects to the dozens of factors in the Morningstar Risk Models, as well intended to be used?
as the market premia associated with those factors. The Morningstar Risk Models
incorporate thousands of stocks globally, as well as a variety of fixed-income
investments. Users have access to a number of risk models based on a variety of
geographies and currencies.
Before launching the capabilities from the desktop version, users should first visit
[Link] and sign in using the same credentials used for the
desktop edition of the application.

Login to the web-based version of Morningstar Direct,

then use this button to access a part of the
application dedicated to the risk model capabilities.

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Understanding the Workspace Module Overview

Understanding the Workspace Module

The Workspace module contains the saved searches, lists, custom data sets, and notes Overview
users create in Morningstar Direct. This module is also used to create custom data
points with values users define.

When conducting investment research and creating lists, searches, and custom data How is this module
sets in the Workspace module more than any other module. This is due, in part, to the intended to be used?
convenience of saving all these files in the Workspace module. Additionally, the
Workspace module offers a familiar grid view similar to those found in the Local
Databases and Global Databases modules; in the Workspace module, however, users
can search for investments across multiple data universes (open-end funds, ETFs, and
so on) rather than in just one universe as is the case with the Local Databases and
Global Databases modules.
The Workspace module
allows users to see a
variety of saved content.

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Understanding the Workspace Module How is this module intended to be used?

Be careful, however, not to use the Workspace module to the exclusion of other
modules in Morningstar Direct. Avoiding the other modules, could result in creating
more work for yourself and failing to take advantage of important features in those
modules. For example, a list of funds is not a substitute for a portfolio of funds created
in Portfolio Management. The list of funds cannot be weighted the way a portfolio can,
and it cannot be associated with a custom benchmark. Similarly, the work to create a
custom data set in Workspace could be exponentially more difficult than doing the
same work in the Performance Reporting module. Finally, the Workspace module does
not allow you to take advantage of the conditional formatting and Scorecard features
found in Performance Reporting.

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