Morningstar

ON Saturday, March 8, JAMES FRANCIS; beloved husband of Christine Louise Morningstar (nee Gay); dear father of James Harry Morningstar and Christine L. Young; cherished grandfather of three loving grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Also survived by son-in-law John Young and daughter-in-law Margaret Morningstar. Relatives and friends are invited to call at the Witzke Funeral Home of Catonsville, Inc., 1630 Edmondson Ave, (2 miles west off beltway exit 14), on Monday 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 P.M. where Funeral Services will be held on Tuesday, time to be announced.

Two college savings plans managed by T. Rowe Price rank among the best in the country - the eighth time that the Baltimore-based investment firm has been included in Morningstar's annual survey of top plans. Only once - the year after the 2008 market crash - has a Price-managed plan not made the list since Morningstar began ranking so-called 529 plans in 2004. "They have been an industry leader for a long time," said Laura Pavlenko Lutton, head of Morningstar's 529 plan research.

Morningstar, the Chicago-based mutual fund tracker, released its annual report card on 529 college savings plans. The 529 plans of Maryland and Alaska, both managed by Baltimore's T. Rowe Price, were ranked among the six best. (Both plans held the same honor last year.) According to Morningstar's report released late October: “These T. Rowe-run plans are built upon a chassis of well-executed funds. The age-based options' asset allocation is more equity-heavy than the norm and the expense ratios are higher than other direct-sold plans', most of which contain indexed funds.

Morningstar, the Chicago-based mutual fund tracker, released its annual report card on 529 college savings plans. The 529 plans of Maryland and Alaska, both managed by Baltimore's T. Rowe Price, were ranked among the six best. (Both plans held the same honor last year.) According to Morningstar's report released late October: “These T. Rowe-run plans are built upon a chassis of well-executed funds. The age-based options' asset allocation is more equity-heavy than the norm and the expense ratios are higher than other direct-sold plans', most of which contain indexed funds.

PHILADELPHIA -- No high school girl from the Baltimore area has ever won an event at the Penn Relays, but a pair of middle-distance runners distinguished themselves in the 97th edition of the carnival at Franklin Field yesterday.Stephanie Morningstar, a junior from Westminster, finished second in the 1,500 meters, as her time of 4 minutes, 40.5 seconds was just one-tenth off the area record. Fallston senior Jenny Howard did establish an area best of 10:00.4 in the 3,000 meters, finishing fifth.

WESTMINSTER -- The anticipated showdown between Amanda White and Stephanie Morningstar wasn't even close at the state track and field championships here yesterday.White, a sophomore at Dulaney, took the lead from the gun and steadily pulled away to win the 3,200-meter run in the Class 4A portion of the meet, finishing in 10 minutes, 49.3 seconds, the second-fastest time in state meet history and 36 seconds faster than Morningstar, the Westminster High junior.It was the first of three showdowns between the two distance specialists and a rematch of last weekend's Region I meet, when White stunned Morningstar in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.

We've all been to parties where assorted guests are hanging by the back door making snide remarks about the hosts. But when the party is the annual Morningstar Investment Conference and the comments are coming from representatives of some top names in the fund world, it's more than idle gossip, it's something for average investors to consider. So when 1,400 fund executives, investment advisers and individual investors converged on Chicago last month for the annual Morningstar event, there was an undercurrent that hinted at the love-hate relationship that both consumers and pros have with the foremost independent research firm in the fund business.

At age 37, John Rekenthaler is too young for anyone to call him a sage. But he does qualify as a dedicated observer of the mutual fund industry and portfolio investing generally.A year ago, I wished Rekenthaler well when he left the Chicago-based mutual fund research firm Morningstar and took a job literally across the street at fund manager John Nuveen & Co.Rekenthaler, one of the original Morningstar staff members in 1987, held the title of publisher but was best known for his offbeat commentaries on the firm's World Wide Web site, www.morningstar.

Milford Mill's Mike Mamo and Westminster's Stephanie Morningstar didn't wear their slickers, carry their umbrellas or even remember to bring their rubber boots to yesterday's Baltimore Metro Cross Country Invitational at Catonsville Community College.Just their spikes were enough.Despite a bone-chilling rain and treacherously muddy course, Mamo shattered the previous meet record by 28 seconds, winning the race in 17 minutes, 12 seconds, and Morningstar swept to a five-second win in the girls' race with 20:47.

CHICAGO - Morningstar Inc., whose U.S. mutual fund research is used by more than 3 million investors, plans to raise as much as $100 million in an initial public offering. Softbank Finance Corp., Morningstar's second-biggest shareholder with a 20 percent stake, might sell stock in the transaction. Morningstar might use the proceeds to make acquisitions and invest in joint ventures, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Morningstar, which tracks more than 15,700 U.S. funds, has been unprofitable for four of the past five years, the SEC filing said.

If you don't know how much you are paying for your 401(k), you're in the company of millions. "The average participant has no idea what they are paying," says Rick Meigs, president of 401khelpcenter.com. Even employers, he says, don't quite know. But that's about to change. Last week, the Department of Labor announced new regulations on fee disclosures that will affect about 72 million workers in 401(k)s. The goal is to provide enough information about fees and investments in an easy-to-understand format so workers can make better decisions.

In the aftermath of the 2008 stock market crash that wiped out retirement accounts, nervous investors stampeded for cover and poured a record number of dollars into bond mutual funds last year. Some fund experts say this embrace of bond funds isn't letting up, despite a rally in stocks. And the continued shift to bonds could backfire on investors. Bond funds aren't expected to repeat last year's performance, when certain fixed-income sectors nearly matched or surpassed returns on stock funds.

The Anne Arundel County police officer called in sick to work so she could follow a colleague in her car as he responded to service calls, according to court documents. She allegedly loitered around his home and told his wife they were having an affair. Officer Michael T. Morningstar, a four-time Eastern District Officer of the Year, said that he complained to his superiors that Officer Kathleen P. Sauerhoff was harassing him and was answered with poor evaluations, a demotion and ridicule from his boss and co-workers, who called her his "stalker."

We've all been to parties where assorted guests are hanging by the back door making snide remarks about the hosts. But when the party is the annual Morningstar Investment Conference and the comments are coming from representatives of some top names in the fund world, it's more than idle gossip, it's something for average investors to consider. So when 1,400 fund executives, investment advisers and individual investors converged on Chicago last month for the annual Morningstar event, there was an undercurrent that hinted at the love-hate relationship that both consumers and pros have with the foremost independent research firm in the fund business.

Big-name mutual funds often attract lots of attention, but some fine performing, lesser-known funds also are worthy of investors' consideration. These funds don't have heavily advertised marquee names, are relatively small and haven't been around forever. But those are among their virtues. The people running them have had success. We're not saying you'll be getting in on the ground floor of the next Fidelity Magellan, but they are worth a look. All are "no-load," meaning they require no initial sales charge.

Few individual investors go to the annual Morningstar Investment Conference. The audience is mostly financial advisers and money management pros, experts who in many cases are worried more about the latest trend than about the basics that make for investment success. But if an average investor went to Chicago last week and listened carefully, he would have come away with five big lessons that seemed to come up in session after session. Since my job is to make that trip on your behalf, here are the most common points in my notes on the event.

Brian Berghuis will likely still have to take out the trash at home, but he has earned his star at Baltimore's T. Rowe Price Group Inc. by being named the best of thousands of individuals throughout the country who manage money in domestic mutual funds. Berghuis, manager of the T. Rowe Price Mid-Cap Growth Fund, was named domestic mutual fund manager of the year yesterday by Morningstar Inc., the Chicago firm that tracks the industry. Morningstar also honored Legg Mason's S. Kenneth Leech, chief investment officer of Western Asset Management Co., and other members of his fixed-income fund management team.

Just when you have the mutual funds in your 401(k) set up, you change jobs and have to start from scratch. That's what happened to my friend Amy. She moved to a small company that offers a generous match but a limited selection of funds. Being a prudent investor, she wanted to do some research first. "Where do you find objective advice?" she asked. Studies show that individuals often make investment choices based on fund advertising and past performance. But as is always pointed out, "past performance is no guarantee of future results" (nor are advertisements promoting a fund's successful track record)

It's a spat between true believers, a feud over index funds. You wouldn't think kindred spirits would have such a beef with each other. But to a group of financial planners known as the Zero Alpha Group, mutual fund researcher Morningstar Inc. simply isn't committed quite enough to their index fund cause. It doesn't matter that Morningstar has long acknowledged that plain old index funds, over time, tend to wallop most funds that strut their stuff and employ high-priced stock-pickers to attract investors.