Morningstar : Announces Winners for the 2015 Italy Fund Awards

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MILAN, 25 March 2015-Morningstar Italy SRL, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, has announced the winners of its 2015 Italy Fund Awards. Morningstar announced the winners on Tuesday, 24 March during a ceremony at the Mercedes Benz Center in Milan, joined by guest of honor and keynote speaker Gerhard Schröder, former Chancellor of Germany.

The Morningstar Italy Fund Awards occur annually and are designed to help investors identify the retail funds and fund groups that added the most value for investors within the context of their relevant peer group in 2014 and over longer time periods. Morningstar selects the winners using a quantitative methodology with a qualitative overlay that considers the one-, three-, and five-year performance history of all eligible funds, and adjusts returns for risk using Morningstar Risk, a measure that imposes a higher penalty for downside variation in a fund's return than it does for upside volatility.

"Through our Morningstar Italy Fund Awards, we are pleased to acknowledge the success of funds and fund groups for their work adding the most value for investors", Davide Pelusi, CEO for Morningstar Italy and Iberia, said. "As part of our mission to help investors reach their financial goals, our awards recognize the funds that have excelled in delivering outstanding risk-adjusted outcomes in their categories, and the fund houses that have achieved impressive returns for their investors during the period. Our congratulations go to the winners."

Morningstar presented 22 awards in total; 17 fund category awards-seven equity categories, six fixed-income categories, and four allocation categories-and five fund house awards.

The winners for the 2015 Morningstar Italy Fund Awards are:
Best Asia-Pacific Equity Fund / Vontobel Far East Equity B
Best Europe Equity Fund / Invesco Pan European Structured Eq A Acc
Best Eurozone Large Cap Equity Fund / Allianz Euroland Equity Growth AT EUR
Best Global Equity Fund / iShares Core MSCI World
Best Italy Equity Fund / Lemanik SICAV High Grth C Ret EUR
Best Emerging Markets Equity Fund / RAM (Lux) Sys Emg Mkts Equities F
Best US Equity Fund / Legg Mason CB US Agrsv Growth A Acc $
Best Diversified Bond Fund / Fidelity Euro Bond A-Acc-EUR
Best Governement Bond Fund / iShares Core Euro Government Bond
Best Corporate Bond Fund / Vontobel EUR Corp Bd Mid Yield B
Best Global Bond Fund / Legg Mason BW Glb Fxd Inc A Acc $
Best Emerging Markets Bond Fund / JB BF Local Emerging-USD B
Best High Yield Bond Fund / Candriam Bds Euro High Yield C EUR Acc
Best Aggressive Allocation Fund / Eurizon Manager Selection MS 70
Best Cautious Allocation Fund / Arca Obbligazioni Europa
Best Flexible Allocation Fund / MandG Dynamic Allocation A EUR Acc
Best Moderate Allocation Fund / ING (L) Patrimonial Balanced X

Best Fund House: Equity Large Fund Range Fidelity
Best Fund House: Bond Large Fund Range iShares
Best Fund House: Multi-Asset Fund Range Fidelity
Best Fund House: Equity Specialized Fund Range Source Markets
Best Fund House: Bond Specialized Fund Range Natixis

The Morningstar Italy Fund Awards were held in collaboration with Galleria MARCOROSSI Arte Contemporanea, an art gallery in Milan. The proceeds from the 2015 awards will be donated to the Telethon Foundation.

For more information about the awards event and the awards methodology, please contact azzurra.zaglio@morningstar.com or visit http://awards.morningstar.com.

Notes to Editors:
The Morningstar fund category awards and fund house awards are based on Morningstar fund data as of 31 December 2014. The awards methodology emphasizes the one-year period, but funds must also have delivered strong three and five year returns after adjusting for risk within the awards peer groups in order to obtain an award.

About Morningstar Italy SRL and Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar Italy SRL is a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., 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 approximately 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 14 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 and had approximately U.S.$170 billion in assets under advisement and management as of 31 December 31 2014. The company has operations in 27 countries.

The references above should not be considered a solicitation by Morningstar to buy securities.

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