By: Jeremy Biberdorf
February 16, 2022
4/5
★★★★★
Quick Summary
Anyone related to stock investment or financial mutual funds has come across the Morningstar application at least once. It is a well-reputed company that provides insight, information, and analysis on a wide variety of individual stock performance, entire sectors, and mutual funds.
Morningstar provides basic information about these entities for free, but users looking for in-detail analysis need to sign up for the Morningstar Premium account (which is a paid subscription). We are going to discuss if the Morningstar Premium subscription is worth the investment or not. Before we proceed, let us discuss some basics about the company.
What is Morningstar?
Morningstar is essentially an investment firm that has been operating in the industry for the past 35 years. It had over $201 billion worth of assets in 2018 and has shown tremendous progress recently. Today, it operates in over 27 countries with thousands of users and beneficiaries worldwide.
How Does Morningstar Premium Work?
The biggest challenge for most people regarding investments is complex information from individual and mutual funds. Fortunately, the Morningstar Premium account simplifies this complex information.
It has a five-star rating system that assesses each stock and investment opportunity separately. You need to get a paid subscription to get in depth information about these investment opportunities.
Key Features/ Selling Points
Morningstar Premium has a lot of additional features for users who require investment assistance. Following are some of the most interesting features of the Morningstar Premium subscription
Portfolio X-ray
It is difficult to keep track of company portfolios and do a comparative analysis of these portfolios. Fortunately, Morningstar Premium helps create a balanced portfolio by helping users determine their asset allocation using the SEC quarterly reports from each stock separately. Users can make course corrections in this situation to avoid any unwanted losses. The Portfolio X-ray feature uses a wide variety of factors and tools to determine this. Here are some of the most important factors:
Fund Screeners
The Fund Screeners feature allows users to filter out and search for stocks and investment opportunities separately by using performance, rating, and category as key factors. The Morningstar Premium feature allows users to make these screenings, which include the risks, Morningstar’s rating, sustainability, and overall yield of the stock or fund.
The feature also allows users to make analyst grade ratings and narrow down their choices using that information. All of this information can help make an informed financial decision.
Portfolio Manager
The Portfolio Manager feature allows users to take an overview of the market and their current financial strategy. You can use it to change your course of action, and make corrections to investment plans. It also allows users to make a list of potential opportunities and keep them under observation for extensive developments.
This simple feature also makes it easier for investors to determine which stocks or investments they should flush out, or pool more money in.
Investment Planning
Morningstar’s Investment Planning section can help users planning to conduct detailed market research. It provides users a starting point with analysis from over 200 professionals. There are several categories that users can explore. Some of them include the following:
Morningstar Premium also offers a list of five-star stocks for users who wish to bargain for stocks on the platform, preventing the hassle of going through SEC filings and quarterly reports repeatedly.
Morningstar App Store Applications
iPhone users have an edge over other users as they can download the Morningstar application for free on the App Store. This gives easier access to the investment overviews. That said, this app does not have in-depth information that users could find on the website.
The app has a 4.3-star rating making it a popular platforms for users on the App Store.
Morningstar: better than Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha?
While there are various benefits and drawbacks of each application for investors online, you should know why Morningstar is a better option for investors than others like Motley Fool and Seeking Alpha. Let us do a comparative analysis of their pros and cons.
Motley Fool
Motley Fool is a platform similar to Morningstar but is nowhere near it when it comes to in-depth research options. It is a good platform for users that wish to invest in a single stock, but it does not provide detailed information for other funds.
The platform may have several highlights such as Best Buys Now and Starter Stocks, but its features aren’t comparable with Morningstar’s extensive options.
Pros
Cons
Seeking Alpha
Seeking Alpha is another platform that helps investors make financial decisions. The downside is that it does not have sufficient benefits to invest in a premium account. This makes Morningstar a better alternative than Seeking Alpha.
Pros
Cons
Is Morningstar Premium Worth It?
Morningstar premium is worth the investment considering it comes with handy features such as:
Learn more about Morningstar and how it can help investors make better decisions.
