KUALA LUMPUR, 28th October 2015-Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, is implementing several changes to its proprietary mutual fund category classification structure for Malaysian-domiciled funds. Effective 30th October 2015, Morningstar will transition Malaysian funds from a set of regionally based categories to a new, locally relevant classification system specifically for funds domiciled in Malaysia.

'These category changes, which reflect our desire to meet the new and developing needs of the fund industry, will enable Malaysian investors and asset managers to more readily assess the competitive market,' Anthony Serhan, Morningstar's Managing Director of Research Strategy, Asia Pacific, said. 'In addition to making our quantitative ratings and rankings more relevant to the Malaysian market, these changes will allow us to incorporate localized classification rules and benchmarks into our database. The new classifications will make it easier for investors to build well-diversified portfolios, which are particularly relevant for Malaysian investors who are increasingly considering global asset classes.'

The category classification changes that take effect in October are:
Type of Change / Name / Currency / Morningstar Rating Y/N* / Asset Class
Retire / Islamic MYR Allocation / USD / Yes / Allocation
Retire / MYR Allocation / USD / Yes / Allocation
Retire / Islamic Asia Pacific Equity / USD / Yes / Equity
Retire / Islamic Malaysia Equity / USD / Yes / Equity
Retire / Malaysia Equity / USD / Yes / Equity
Retire / Islamic MYR Bond / USD / Yes / Fixed Income
Retire / MYR Bond / USD / Yes / Fixed Income
Retire / Islamic MYR Money Market / USD / No / Money Market
Retire / MYR Money Market / USD / No / Money Market

Add / Blended - Aggressive / MYR / Yes / Allocation
Add / Blended - Balanced / MYR / Yes / Allocation
Add / Blended - Balanced (Syariah) / MYR / Yes / Allocation
Add / Blended - Conservative MYR / Yes / Allocation
Add / Blended - Flexible / MYR / Yes / Allocation
Add / Blended - Other / MYR / No / Allocation
Add / Equity - ASEAN / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Asia Pacific / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Asia Pacific / ex-Japan / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Asia Pacific ex-Japan (Syariah) / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Country Focus / MYR / No / Equity
Add / Equity - Emerging Markets / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Global MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Greater China / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Malaysia Income / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Malaysia Large-cap / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Malaysia Large-cap (Syariah) / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Malaysia Mid/Small-cap / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Malaysia Mid/Small-cap (Syariah) / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Equity - Other / MYR / No / Equity
Add / Equity - Sector Focus / MYR / No / Equity
Add / Property - Indirect Asia / MYR / Yes / Equity
Add / Property - Indirect Non-Asia / MYR / Yes Equity
Add / Bonds - Asia / MYR / Yes / Fixed Income
Add / Bonds - Emerging Markets / MYR / Yes / Fixed Income
Add / Bonds - Global MYR / Yes / Fixed Income
Add / Bonds - Global Hedged / MYR / Yes / Fixed Income
Add / Bonds - Malaysia MYR / Yes / Fixed Income
Add / Bonds - Malaysia (Syariah) / MYR / Yes / Fixed Income
Add / Bonds - Other / MYR / No / Fixed Income
Add / Other - Miscellaneous / MYR / No / Miscellaneous
Add / Other - Protected or Guaranteed / MYR / No / Miscellaneous
Add / Other - Target Date / MYR / No / Miscellaneous
Add / Money Market - Malaysia MYR / Yes / Money Market
Add / Money Market - Malaysia (Syariah) / MYR / Yes / Money Market

*A fund does not receive a Morningstar Rating for funds if 1) it is less than three years old; 2) its rating has been suspended; 3) it belongs to a category that contains different funds with different risk factors; 4) it belongs to a category with an inadequate sample size to calculate a rating. Morningstar requires at least five distinct portfolios in a category for a specific time period in order to calculate that rating.

The Morningstar categories classify a fund's investment style based on how it actually invests. Rather than assign a category to a fund based on the objective stated in its prospectus, Morningstar analyzes the fund's underlying holdings. Morningstar places funds in a given category based on their average portfolio statistics during the past three years. If the fund is new, Morningstar assigns the most appropriate category based on available information. When necessary, Morningstar may change a category assignment based on recent changes to a fund's portfolio. To read more about Morningstar's global category classification methodology, click here.

The new fund categories will be reflected in Morningstar's platforms, including my.morningstar.com and Morningstar DirectSM, the company's global investment analysis platform for institutional investors.

About Morningstar, Inc.
 Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on more than 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 17 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $170 billion in assets under advisement and management as of Sept. 30, 2015. The company has operations in 27 countries.

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