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The Aurora Public Library District now offers access to Morningstar Mutual Funds Online, a trusted and often cited source of independent mutual fund information.
How to Access Morningstar
To access Morningstar Mutual Funds Online simply click here or on the Morningstar link on the Digital Resources Menu on many of our webpages. You will be prompted to enter an email address & password. The Aurora Public Library District will supply you with these. To obtain them, send an email to morningstar@eapld.org - include your name, address, telephone number, & date of birth. The library needs this information to verify that you're a member of our library.
Morningstar's Approach to Fund Analysis
Morningstar's approach to mutual fund analysis is based on the simple,but often overlooked, fact that a mutual fund's performance is a direct result of its underlying portfolio holdings, as well as all of its related costs. Morningstar's analysts spend a lot of time digging into the stocks, bonds, and other holdings that make up each fund's portfolio. Before writing each analysis, they also interview the portfolio manager about the fund's holdings and investment strategy. Most funds sound good on paper, but they think qualitative interviews with fund managers are one of the best ways to gain insight into a fund's strategy. Granted, past performance is the most widely available piece of information for investors doing research on funds, but far from the only factor investors should consider in making wise investment decisions. After all, chasing performance is the single biggest mistake investors make. More important than past returns are such issues as the soundness of the fund manager's strategy, whether the manager's incentives are aligned with those of shareholders, and how much investors are paying for their investments.
What follows is a list of Morningstar's values that guide their analysts in their research. When deciding whether to include a fund on their Analyst Picks or Analyst Pans lists or whether to recommend the fund at all depends on how well it measures up based on these principles. (Our fund star ratings, by contrast, are purely quantitative; these values don't directly influence them.)
- A fund's investment strategy must be fundamentally sound.
- Costs must be reasonable and fully disclosed.
- Investors are entitled to complete disclosure regarding a fund's strategy, investment team, and costs.
- The interests of investment managers, board members, and fund company executives must be aligned with those of fund shareholders.
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