NASDAQ: MORN

Finally, through our Morningstar Credit segment, we provide investors with credit ratings, research, data, and credit analytics solutions that we believe contribute to the transparency of international and domestic credit markets.

While other companies may offer research, ratings, data, software products, indexes, or investment management services, we believe that we are one of the few companies that can deliver all of these in alignment with our mission of empowering investor success.

Our Segments and Products

We operate our business through five reportable segments: Morningstar Direct Platform, PitchBook, Morningstar Credit, Morningstar Wealth, and Morningstar Retirement. All remaining operating segments and business activities that are not significant enough to require separate reportable segment disclosure are referred to as, and included in, Corporate and All Other in our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Morningstar Direct Platform

Morningstar Direct Platform provides investors comprehensive data, research and insights, and investment analysis to empower investment decision-making. Morningstar Direct Platform includes Morningstar Data, Morningstar Direct, and Morningstar Advisor Workstation, products that are designed to provide seamless access to Morningstar's managed investment, public equities, and fixed-income data, with a focus on making the work of portfolio managers, product developers, marketers, advisors, and analysts more efficient and effective.

In 2025, we updated the composition of the key product areas (Morningstar Data, Morningstar Direct, Morningstar Advisor Workstation) within the Morningstar Direct Platform segment. There were no changes to the overall composition of the Morningstar Direct Platform segment.

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Morningstar Data licenses and delivers Morningstar’s data, research, and analytics to asset managers, redistributors, and wealth managers. Morningstar Data is used to power critical applications and workflows with the goal of empowering investor success. Our global offerings, which span managed investments (including mutual funds, exchanged traded funds (ETFs), separate accounts, collective investment trusts, and model portfolios), equities, and fixed-income securities, are enriched with proprietary analytics and intellectual property for actionable insights and easy comparison across asset classes. In addition, our application programming interface (API) and AI integrations provide access to more complex capabilities such as portfolio calculations and analytics, investment screening, and investment-level AI Insights.

We distribute our proprietary statistics and research, including Morningstar Category, Style Box, Morningstar Rating and Medalist Ratings, via licensed data feeds. We also offer a wide range of other data sets, including investment performance, risk analytics, full historical portfolio holdings, operations data (such as managed investments’ fees and expenses), cash flows, financial statement data, consolidated industry statistics, and investment ownership.

We offer flexible delivery to meet a wide range of customer needs:

•Data feeds: Flexible, high-volume delivery in formats such as CSV, XML, JSON, and Excel.

•APIs: Robust, secure APIs that can integrate into client workflows and support large-scale processing.

•AI integrations: AI-ready access to data, research, and capabilities through MCP and intelligent agents.

In 2025, we updated the composition of the Morningstar Data key product area to reflect the breadth of Morningstar Direct Platform’s research and data products. Morningstar Data’s largest products include managed investment data, Morningstar Essentials, exchange market data, equity data, Direct Web Services, and research distribution.

In 2025, Morningstar Data focused on delivering Morningstar’s data, research, and insights through AI platforms and integrations:

•Direct Web Services introduced the AI Insights API, which provides generative AI summaries of the key characteristics of funds and equities, including Morningstar intellectual property such as ratings, fair value, and economic moat.

•We launched the Morningstar MCP server, providing turnkey AI-connectivity of Morningstar data, research, and functionality including investment screening and fund holding lookups.

•We completed integrations of the Morningstar MCP server into Anthropic’s Claude for Financial Services, Microsoft Foundry and Copilot Studio, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

Clients license Morningstar Data for transparent product development, investor communications, research, regulatory reporting, and analytics. Demand for Morningstar Data is rising as clients build digital solutions, prepare for regulatory requirements, and incorporate AI and automation into their workflows.

Markets and Competition

Morningstar Data's largest markets are North America and Europe.

Our key global competitors include:

•FE fundinfo and LSEG (Refinitiv) for mutual fund data. We also compete against smaller players that focus on local or regional information.

•Bloomberg, FactSet, LSEG (Refinitiv), and S&P Global for market and equity data.

Revenue Model and Renewal Rates

Pricing is based on the data package being licensed, the level of distribution, and the use case.

We estimate that the annual revenue renewal rate for Morningstar Data was 101% in 2025. We estimate that the annual revenue renewal rate for Morningstar Data in 2024 was 99%, reflecting the retroactive application of the updated product area composition and the revised annual renewal rate methodology explained in more detail in Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - How We Evaluate Our Business.

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Morningstar Direct is an investment analysis and reporting application that delivers data and analytics across asset classes and streamlines report creation and distribution to client-facing groups and internal teams. Built on Morningstar's global database of registered and non-registered securities and data from third-party providers, the application helps asset managers with market research, product positioning, competitive analysis, and distribution strategies. Wealth managers use the tool to assist with manager research, fund selection, and the construction, monitoring, and distribution of model portfolios. In 2025, we updated the composition of the Morningstar Direct key product area to include revenue attributable to the reporting application, which had not been included in prior periods.

We enhanced Morningstar Direct in 2025 by expanding access via a browser (now available at direct.morningstar.com1) and offering improved core workflows, which included the introduction of more flexible portfolio comparison and refreshed browser-based performance reporting. We also introduced AI-powered capabilities—such as personalized investment insights, generative text highlighting risk model exposures, and Python code generation—alongside a richer private capital fund dataset (including proxies) to enable integrated analysis across public and private holdings in one place. In addition, we launched Investment Discovery with expanded coverage of interval funds, tender offer funds, unlisted real estate investment trusts, and unlisted business development companies; upgraded the homepage with customizable modules and workflow shortcuts; and broadened equity analysis with enhanced estimates, transcripts, trend analysis, and filings-based data auditing.

Markets and Competition

Morningstar Direct's primary markets are North America and Europe.

Its key global competitors are Bloomberg, eVestment Alliance, FactSet Research System’s Cognity and SPAR, and LSEG's (Refinitiv) Eikon.

Revenue Model and Renewal Rates

Pricing is simplified to a license-based model that eliminates charges for add-on features in an effort to maximize customer experience and allow users to extract value.

We estimate that our annual revenue renewal rate for Morningstar Direct was approximately 104% in 2025. We estimate that the annual revenue renewal rate Morningstar Direct in 2024 was 106%, reflecting the retroactive application of the updated product area composition and the revised renewal rate methodology. The decline in the Morningstar Direct renewal rate was primarily driven by license consolidation with existing clients.

1 Information in any websites referenced herein are not incorporated by reference into this report.

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Morningstar Advisor Workstation includes Advisor Workstation and Direct Advisory Suite, the newest advisor experience, which was launched in January 2025 with an updated modern interface built for the advisor workflow. Through Morningstar Advisor Workstation, we offer a connected suite of tools spanning proposal creation, investment research, investment planning, and more, which are powered by Morningstar’s data, research, investor profiling tools, and robust portfolio analytics. These tools are designed to help our customers provide great advice to their clients. In 2025, we updated the composition of the Morningstar Advisor Workstation key product area to exclude revenue attributable to Annuity Intelligence, a small, non-core product.

As we've reached new advisors with Direct Advisory Suite in 2025, we’ve also worked to upgrade the existing Advisor Workstation user base to the new platform. In addition to giving advisors access to Morningstar’s robust research and editorial content, the upgrade provides users with access to Direct Advisory Suite’s modern intuitive interface, additional datasets, and new capabilities. These expanded capabilities include customized digital reporting, security comparison, charting, as well as AI-assisted workflows such as:

•Intelligent Import, a tool that extracts, recognizes, categorizes, and maps portfolios and holdings data from client statements, removing the need for manual data entry;

•Natural language screening that enables users to initiate investment searches using conversational queries; and

•Portfolio talking points that analyze a portfolio’s risk fit, investment quality, asset allocation, and more using Morningstar’s data and research.

Markets and Competition

Morningstar Advisor Workstation is offered in the US and Canada, reaching more than 225 firms and 170,000 advisors.

Competitors for Morningstar Advisor Workstation include CapIntel, FactSet, Kwanti, Nitrogen (formerly known as Riskalyze), and YCharts. Increasingly, broker/dealers and custodians are also building their own internal tools and attempting to bring their advisors’ practice management tools in-house, as with Pershing’s Wove platform.

Revenue Model

Morningstar Advisor Workstation generates license-based revenue and is primarily sold through an enterprise contract for retail advisors, which allows them to build and maintain a client portfolio database that can be connected to the home-office firm’s back-office technology and resources. We can also license single seats for individual advisors.

Annual revenue renewal rates for 2025 are not currently available in light of ongoing updates to our billing system and a product transition.

PitchBook

PitchBook provides investors with access to what we believe is one of the most comprehensive collections of private market data and insights, complemented by Morningstar’s data and research on public equities. PitchBook’s data, research, and tools are delivered primarily through the PitchBook platform, an integrated solution for professionals globally who allocate, deploy, or advise on capital. Our platform combines data, proprietary research, and advanced AI-driven tools to deliver insights across private and public markets. Through the PitchBook platform and our direct data products, which deliver data via à la carte channels including APIs and data feeds, we offer the following capabilities:

•Comprehensive, timely data coverage: PitchBook tracks millions of private and public companies, investors, funds, deals, loans, and executives.

•Integrated research: PitchBook’s research team provides research and analytics on private equity, venture capital, credit, M&A, and managed vehicles, with full-time analyst coverage across 30 sectors and emerging technology practice areas and more than 2,400 research reports published in 2025. Additionally, its quantitative research function provides a comprehensive suite of performance measurement, risk, and predictive analytics tools, including investable indexes, fund benchmarks, portfolio forecasting models, and liquidity and risk assessments. PitchBook’s research center also features Morningstar’s public equity research, covering approximately 1,600 companies using a consistent, proprietary methodology that focuses on fundamental analysis, competitive advantage assessment, and intrinsic value estimation.

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•Analytical and workflow tools: The platform includes advanced search, market intelligence dashboards, benchmarking, fund performance analytics, portfolio monitoring, and other features designed to surface relevant insights and simplify decision-making. AI-enabled experiences such as PitchBook Navigator leverage data proprietary research, and models to support conversational search, summaries, trend analysis, and due diligence workflows.

•Software extensions and integrations: Clients can embed data directly into existing workflows through mobile applications, CRM integrations, and Excel and PowerPoint plug-ins, as well as integrations with enterprise AI providers.

•IP tools and proprietary methodologies: PitchBook develops proprietary methodologies and machine learning models, including the VC Exit Predictor, Manager Performance Scores, specialized industry indexes, private market barometers, and emerging technology indicators.

PitchBook serves a broad client base that includes private equity and venture capital firms, asset managers, limited partners, investment banks, private credit investors, corporations, and professional service providers. As of December 31, 2025, we served approximately 10,200 client accounts and 113,451 licensed users.

In 2025, PitchBook expanded its private credit capabilities through the acquisition of Lumonic Inc. (Lumonic), a portfolio monitoring and management solution built for institutional investors. Lumonic extends PitchBook’s offerings beyond deal sourcing and deal execution to ongoing portfolio monitoring, risk assessment, and performance analysis. The acquisition is expected to strengthen end-to-end workflows for credit-focused investors and support future AI-enabled monitoring capabilities.

We remained focused on enhancing the user experience and improving operational efficiency through AI. These efforts included the following activities in 2025 and through early February 2026:

•Scaling AI and human insight: We continued to responsibly deploy and enhance our AI-powered data collection and ingestion processes with independent standards and human-in-the-loop governance focused on improving coverage, reliability, and processing speed while maintaining methodological consistency and data quality.

•Embedding AI in workflows to accelerate insight generation and decision making: We integrated AI into tools such as PitchBook Navigator, Profile and Investor Summaries, Transcript Summaries, the VC Exit Predictor and most recently, PitchBook’s Valuation Estimates, a first of its kind, machine-learning-driven solution that delivers independent, data-driven valuation estimates for thousands of companies.

•Expanding delivery of data and intellectual property, broadening access to differentiated data and intellectual property through integrations with leading enterprise AI applications and large language model (LLM) providers.

◦PitchBook was among the first private capital market intelligence providers to collaborate directly with Anthropic and OpenAI allowing PitchBook users to access the full depth of PitchBook’s differentiated private market data within the LLMs.

◦We introduced collaborations with purpose-built AI platforms for financial services including Hebbia and Rogo to integrate PitchBook’s data to automate analytical tasks such as market research, valuation comparisons, and financial modeling.

Markets and Competition

PitchBook’s largest markets in 2025 continued to be North America and Europe, with growing adoption in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region and other international markets.

We compete with providers of private market data, research, and workflow tools. Key competitors include Beauhurst, FactSet, MSCI, Preqin (a division of BlackRock), Refinitiv, S&P Global Market Intelligence, and smaller or specialized data providers. Competitors are assessed based on a number of factors, including data breadth and depth, quality, timeliness, user experience, global coverage, and integration of data and workflows.

Revenue Model and Renewal Rates

Pricing for the PitchBook platform is primarily based on the number of licensed users, with customized pricing available for large enterprises, boutique firms, and startup clients. Direct data products, including APIs and data feeds, are priced according to data volume, refresh requirements, and technical specifications.

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In 2025, we estimate that our annual revenue renewal rate for PitchBook platform and direct data product combined was approximately 103%, compared with 108% in 2024. The decline primarily reflected softness in our corporate client segment, including higher churn and lower expansion activity, as well as reduced expansion activity in our core client segments. Prior to 2025, we reported the annual revenue renewal rate for PitchBook platform on a standalone basis.

Morningstar Credit

Morningstar Credit provides investors with credit ratings, research, data, and credit analytics solutions that, we believe, contribute to the transparency of international and domestic credit markets. Morningstar Credit includes Morningstar DBRS and Morningstar Credit Analytics (MCA).

Morningstar DBRS is one of the top four rating agencies worldwide, generating revenue from providing independent credit ratings on financial institutions, corporates, sovereigns, and various structured finance instruments, such as asset-backed securities (ABS), residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS), commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). The credit analysis and the assignment of credit ratings can take place on issuance of new bonds or on a continuous basis for existing credit exposures. The fees to the issuer are based on the type of issuance, the size of the transaction, and the complexity of the analysis. In addition to ratings and research opinions, Morningstar Credit also offers data products derived from its ratings activities and analytical tools. These include ratings data feeds that can be integrated into companies’ internal databases, web-based research, and analytical tools. We estimate that the global ratings market totaled approximately $11.8 billion for the trailing 12 months ended September 30, 2025.

As of December 2025, we rated more than 4,000 issuers and 60,000 securities worldwide, providing independent credit ratings for financial institutions, corporate and sovereign entities, and structured finance products and instruments.

MCA completed its acquisition of Dealview Technologies Limited (DealX), a provider of standardized US CMBS and global CLO data in March 2025. This acquisition is expected to enhance MCA’s analytics in the structured finance sector and expand its reach in the private credit and leveraged loan markets.

In October 2025, Morningstar DBRS entered the APAC market with the opening of an office in Sydney, Australia. Morningstar DBRS has been rating international offerings of APAC issuers for approximately 25 years, and the Sydney office will bring its full range of services closer to clients and investors in the area.

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Markets and Competition

In 2025, Morningstar Credit's largest markets by revenue were the US, followed by Canada and Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

Morningstar Credit's competitors include Fitch Ratings, Kroll Bond Rating, Moody’s Ratings, and S&P Global Ratings.

Revenue Model

Morningstar Credit generates revenue from the assignment of credit ratings on the issuance of new bonds and via recurring revenue primarily derived from surveillance and research. Fees payable by the issuer are based on the type of issuance, the size of the transaction, and the complexity of the analysis.

Morningstar Credit also generates license-based revenue from its data feeds.

Morningstar Wealth

Morningstar Wealth brings together Investment Management, which includes Morningstar Model Portfolios and the International Wealth Platform, and our individual investor platform and media site, Morningstar Investor/Morningstar.com. Our offerings include professionally managed investment products built on Morningstar’s independent research, platform capabilities that streamline workflows, and tools that support scalable, personalized advice for advisors. We also offer access to Morningstar research and tools for self-directed investors.

In February 2025, we announced plans to retire Morningstar Office, our practice and portfolio management software for registered investment advisors (RIAs). The transition of clients to SS&C's Black Diamond and alternative platforms is underway and is expected to be completed in early 2026. In 2025, we also completed the retirement of our US Morningstar Wealth Turnkey Asset Management Platform (TAMP) following the sale of customer assets to AssetMark in 2024.

Investment Management’s flagship offering is Morningstar Model Portfolios (also referred to as Morningstar® Managed Portfolios), an advisor service consisting of model portfolios designed for fee-based financial advisors. We offer multi-asset model portfolios and separately managed account strategies constructed using mutual funds, ETFs, and individual securities to meet defined investment horizons, risk parameters, and targeted outcomes.

Morningstar Model Portfolios are available through two core distribution channels: strategist models on third-party managed account platforms; and the Morningstar International Wealth Platform, primarily offered in the UK, which offers fee-based discretionary asset management services. The International Wealth Platform features digital onboarding, customizable advisor portals, multi-portfolio management, and AI-driven insights. As of December 31, 2025, Investment Management AUMA totaled $72.8 billion.

Additional offerings include institutional asset-management and asset-allocation services for asset managers, broker/dealers, and insurance providers.

In 2025, net flows were approximately $2.0 billion across Investment Management including Morningstar Model Portfolios and assets on the International Wealth Platform invested in third-party model portfolios.

Markets and Competition

Investment Management's core markets are the US, Australia, UK, and South Africa.

Our competitors vary by product and geography:

•Our key model portfolio offering competitors are BlackRock, Capital Group, and Clark Capital in the US. We face competition from Brooks Macdonald, LGT Wealth Management, and Tatton in EMEA, and Elston, Lonsec, and Russell in Australia.

•Our key competitors for the Morningstar International Wealth Platform include abrdn, Aviva, Nucleus, and Parmenion.

•We also compete with in-house research teams at independent broker/dealers who build proprietary portfolios for use on brokerage firm platforms, as well as other RIAs that provide investment strategies or models on these platforms.

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Revenue Model

Investment Management revenue is primarily asset-based, with pricing dependent on the distribution channel and the products contained within the portfolios.

Products for individual investors include Morningstar.com and Morningstar Investor. Morningstar.com is our primary media site, providing independent news, analysis, and educational content produced by Morningstar’s editorial and research teams.

Our Morningstar Investor offering provides transparency into investment choices through research and tools to enable investors to make informed decisions about their portfolios.

Markets and Competition

Morningstar.com primarily competes with trading platforms that concurrently offer research and investing advice, such as E*Trade, Fidelity, and Schwab.

As of December 31, 2025, there were 96,791 paid Morningstar Investor members in the US plus an additional 8,135 Morningstar Investor members across other global markets.

Revenue Model

Morningstar.com revenue is derived from ad sales. Our advertising business is entirely sold directly to clients, allowing us to build meaningful relationships with our advertisers, maintain pricing, and help us protect the integrity of our brand.

We charge a monthly or annual subscription fee for Morningstar Investor.

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Morningstar Retirement

Morningstar Retirement’s primary offerings include managed retirement accounts (MRA), fiduciary services, and custom models.

MRA represented more than half of Morningstar Retirement AUMA and accounted for the majority of revenue in 2025. Morningstar Retirement offers three managed account types—Retirement Manager (branded), white-labeled, and advisor managed—designed for various distribution channels. Defined contribution (DC) retirement plans are the predominant users of the three managed account types, although they can also be used with individual retirement accounts (IRAs). Managed accounts provides retirement plan participants with personalized investment and savings advice. With Retirement Manager, Morningstar Retirement serves as the fiduciary and the service uses our user experience, engines, and portfolio-management capabilities. Advisor managed accounts gives advisory firms more control over the design of the underlying investment portfolios, while white-labeled managed accounts gives recordkeepers the opportunity to serve as the fiduciary and to own the look and feel of the service while leveraging our engines and investment expertise.

Fiduciary services was the second-largest Morningstar Retirement product by revenue in 2025, accounting for approximately a quarter of overall AUMA. Through this offering, we help plan sponsors and advisors deliver high-quality retirement plan lineups while assuming the vast majority of the operational and fiduciary burdens. We also manage lineups within Pooled Employer Plans as well as within Plan Advantage, our practice management platform for advisors.

Custom models was Morningstar Retirement's third-largest product in 2025. We offer two primary services. We design scalable solutions that help recordkeepers offer their clients more customized target maturity and risk-based models for their smaller retirement plan lineups. We also provide custom model services directly to large plan sponsors, creating target date models that are designed around a plan’s participant demographics and investment menus.

As of December 31, 2025, Morningstar Retirement AUMA totaled $305.2 billion.

We primarily reach individual investors through DC plans offered by their employers. Recordkeepers, plan sponsors, advisors, consultants, and asset managers are our primary distribution channels. During 2025, we added around 290 retirement plans and 17,000 participants across the 26 RIAs and four asset managers on our advisor managed accounts network. As of December 31, 2025, we served a total of 95 retirement service providers, broker dealers, asset managers, plan sponsors and RIAs, representing approximately 298,000 plans and 2.3 million managed accounts participants.

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Markets and Competition

Our main focus geographically is the US, a retirement market that continues to demonstrate healthy growth.

Our competitors vary by product and include:

•Managed accounts: Edelman Financial Engines, Fidelity, and SMART

•Fiduciary services: Envestnet, Leafhouse, Mesirow Financial, and Wilshire

•Custom models: Retirement plan consulting firms

Revenue Model

Pricing is asset-based and depends on the level of services offered (including the degree of fiduciary responsibility Morningstar Retirement is assuming under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, or ERISA), the number of participants, the level of systems integration required, total AUMA, and the availability of competing products.

Corporate and All Other

Corporate and All Other includes unallocated corporate expenses as well as financial results from Morningstar Sustainalytics and Morningstar Indexes.

Morningstar Sustainalytics provides environmental, social, and governance data, research, and ratings to institutional investors globally, covering equity, fixed income, and sovereign asset classes, designed to support clients’ investment selection and reporting, risk management, and climate strategies. Our offerings include our flagship ESG Risk Ratings that help investors assess financially material risks that could affect the long-term performance of their investments, the Morningstar Sustainalytics Low Carbon Transition Ratings (LCTR) which provide a forward-looking, science-based evaluation of a company’s alignment with a net-zero pathway, as well as data that supports clients in meeting regulatory reporting requirements. Investors can also use our data to personalize their portfolios by choosing to overweight, underweight, or limit their exposure to a wide range of factors.

In 2025, we expanded our climate data and introduced an "enhanced controversies" solution based on a dual scoring system that incorporates a risk signal, which aligns controversies with potential financial risks, and an impact signal, which assesses the severity, scope, and remediation efforts related to an incident. We also focused on enhancing the client experience through efforts to improve the accuracy and reliability of our indicator data and introduced a new client support model.

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In January 2026, we announced our plans to retire our second-party opinions product by the end of the first quarter as part of a broader effort to sharpen Morningstar Sustainalytics’ focus on its core data, research and ratings businesses.

Markets and Competition

In 2025, Morningstar Sustainalytics' largest markets were EMEA and North America.

Key competitors for Morningstar Sustainalytics include ISS STOXX, MSCI, and S&P Global.

Revenue Model and Renewal Rates

Morningstar Sustainalytics operates on a subscription-based pricing model (recurring revenue) for data and research products, which accounted for a significant majority of its revenue in 2025.

We estimate that our annual revenue renewal rate for Morningstar Sustainalytics' license-based products was approximately 93% in both 2024 and 2025 reflecting the revised renewal rate methodology.

Morningstar Indexes offers a broad range of market indexes that can be used as performance benchmarks and as the basis for investment products and other portfolio strategies for a wide range of retail and institutional investor clients. Combining Morningstar's intellectual property with our industry leading index methodology, our global family of indexes tracks major global regions, strategies, and asset classes, including equity, fixed income, and multi-asset as well as private markets and sustainability.

In 2025, Morningstar Indexes introduced several new product innovations, particularly in the private markets and thematic research space. On February 2, 2026, Morningstar completed its acquisition of the Center for Research in Security Prices, or CRSP, from the University of Chicago. This acquisition is expected to significantly enhance our index and data capabilities.

Markets and Competition

In 2025, Morningstar Indexes’ largest markets were North America and EMEA.

Key industry competitors include Bloomberg Indices, FTSE Russell, MSCI, and S&P Dow Jones Indices.

Revenue Model

We license Morningstar Indexes to numerous institutions to use as the basis for ETFs, mutual funds, derivatives and separately managed accounts. Firms license Morningstar Indexes for product creation (where we typically receive the greater of a minimum fee or basis points tied to assets under management) and data licensing (where we typically receive annual licensing fees). In both cases, pricing varies based on the level of distribution, the type of user, and the specific indexes licensed. In addition, Morningstar Indexes offers index calculation and administration services through its index services.

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Our Strategy

Our strategy is to deliver insights and experiences that make us essential to the investor workflow.

We are currently focused on the following five strategic priorities:

•Win for Investors: Deliver differentiated insights and solutions that make us essential to investors by emphasizing research as the company’s research & development (R&D) engine.

•Lead in AI to Empower Investor Success: Make Morningstar AI-native, rethinking capabilities and processes to greatly improve the speed and quality of insights and experiences essential to the investor workflow.

•Own the Language of Markets: Become the trusted universal language for public and private markets.

•Scale for Impact: Drive operational excellence and scalability to support profitable growth.

•Build an Exceptional Culture: Foster a workplace where every employee is empowered to make a difference and act with integrity.

Our People

At Morningstar, our people are one of our most important assets. We aim to foster an environment where the people who power our mission know their ideas are welcome, their voices are heard, and their contributions are rewarded.

Our human capital management efforts are managed by our chief people officer and implemented with support from leaders across the company, with oversight from our chief executive officer (CEO) and board of directors. The compensation committee of our board of directors approves incentive plan design and performance goals and reviews emerging compensation policies, practices, and potential risks. In addition, human capital management efforts are implemented by leaders across the company.

We seek to align our employees around Morningstar’s values as we use them to guide our business. This shared set of values is: Champion the Investor; Dream Big, Drive Change; Execution is Everything; Growth Mindset; and One Team.

Our Teams

We believe the collective mix of our different backgrounds and experiences makes us a stronger global firm. Our development of teams helps us understand businesses and markets and engage customers around the world. As a global employer, our goal is to foster inclusive environments that encourage open dialogue, spark creativity, and fuel innovation that may lead to better business outcomes.

As of December 31, 2025, we had 10,973 permanent, full-time employees around the world. Approximately 43% of our employees work in India, 29% in the US, 10% in Continental Europe, 7% in Canada, 6% in the UK, and the remainder in Australia, Asia (ex-India), and other regions.

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Employee Data

Morningstar’s global turnover remained flat at 17% in 2025. Involuntary turnover increased to 5% in 2025 from 4% in 2024, while voluntary turnover decreased from 13% in 2024 to 12% in 2025.

In addition to tracking and analyzing retention, our organization’s people analytics team actively monitors and shares semi-annual metrics related to the employee experience, including employee satisfaction, intent to stay, discretionary effort, and enablement. We also evaluate perceptions of managers, psychological safety, and overall well-being through surveys, focus groups, and exit interviews.

Based on our average measurement across the year, Morningstar’s overall engagement score increased to 66% from 64% in 2024. Our people and culture team in partnership with our executive leadership remain committed to monitoring feedback and implementing changes to support employees.

Morningstar’s efforts to reward and support our colleagues reflect our belief that people are central to our success. We offer a variety of benefits through a total rewards package that supports the financial, physical, emotional, and social well-being of our colleagues. In 2025, we rolled out a peer-to-peer rewards and recognition system designed to reinforce our shared values resulting in over 29,000 individual and team recognitions. In 2025, we enhanced our educational stipend program to further support both the personal and professional development of our employees, allowing colleagues to use up to 50% of the stipend for wellness purposes, such as gym memberships, sports equipment, and nutrition coaching. Since the stipend enhancement, participation in the program has increased to more than 85%.

Professional Growth

Morningstar offers a variety of educational and career development programs designed to ensure ongoing growth opportunities and a meaningful set of development experiences for our colleagues across the globe. Notably, we offer our employees annual educational stipends to spend on their choice of professional development resources, while also providing financial support for continuing education and the pursuit of professional certifications. In 2025, 52% of our open roles were filled by internal candidates, demonstrating the value we place on developing, recognizing, and rewarding internal talent.

We also offer learning and growth programs for colleagues at every level within our organization. The Morningstar Development Program (MDP) is our two-year program for recent university graduates and entry-level professionals. Participants start their careers at Morningstar placed into business units that align to their career interests or can opt into a structured rotational experience.

For those more advanced in their careers, Morningstar offers targeted development and learning opportunities. For example, our Manager Academy provides training and development for colleagues who have been newly promoted into manager roles. Similarly, our Leader Academy supports leaders who are guiding others, driving high-impact projects, or shaping business strategy. We also offer high potential programs geared towards select individuals at key inflection points in their career such as our Emerging Leader and High Performer Programs.

Major Customer Groups

Given our strategy and core capabilities discussed above, we focus on eight primary customer groups, listed below. Note that some of our clients may have activities that are classified in more than one of these groups and, in particular, we derive a significant percentage of revenue from integrated financial institutions.

•Advisors (also referred to as "wealth managers", including independent financial advisors and those affiliated with RIAs, broker/dealers or other intermediaries)

•Alliances and redistributors (including global fintech firms)

•Asset managers (including fund companies, insurance companies, and other companies that build and manage portfolios of securities for their clients)

•Fixed-income security issuers and arrangers

•Individual investors

•Institutional asset owners and consultants

•Private market investors (including private equity and venture capital firms, asset managers, limited partners, investment banks, private credit investors, corporations and professional service providers)

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•Retirement plan providers, advisors, and sponsors

Revenue Types

We leverage our differentiated data and research to sell products and services across our portfolio that generate revenue in three primary ways:

License-based: The majority of our research, data, and proprietary platforms are accessed via subscription services that grant access on either a per user or enterprise-basis for a specified period of time. License-based revenue represented 70.3% of our 2025 consolidated revenue compared to 71.4% in 2024 and 74.4% in 2023.

Asset-based: We charge basis points and other fees for AUMA. Asset-based revenue represented 14.0% of our 2025 consolidated revenue compared to 14.6% in 2024 and 13.7% in 2023.

Transaction-based: Represents revenue that is one time in nature and related Morningstar Credit recurring revenue primarily derived from surveillance and research. Transaction-based revenue represented 15.7% of our 2025 consolidated revenue compared to 14.0% in 2024 and 11.9% in 2023.

Largest Customer

In 2025, our largest customer accounted for less than 3% of our consolidated revenue.

Acquisitions and Divestitures

Since our founding in 1984, we've supported our organic growth by introducing new products and services and expanding our existing offerings. From 2006 through 2025, we also completed 46 acquisitions to support our growth objectives. We had two acquisitions and no significant divestitures in 2025.

For more information about our acquisitions and divestitures, refer to Notes 9 and 10, respectively, of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements.

International Operations

We conduct our business operations outside of the US through wholly-owned subsidiaries located across the Americas, EMEA, and APAC regions. See Note 6 of the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information concerning revenue from customers and assets from our business operations outside the US.

Intellectual Property and Other Proprietary Rights

We treat our brand name and logo, product names, databases and related content, software, technology, and know-how as proprietary. We seek to protect this intellectual property through a combination of: (i) trademark, copyright, patent and trade secrets laws; (ii) licensing and nondisclosure agreements; and (iii) other security and related technical measures designed to restrict unauthorized access and use.

Because of the value of our brand name and logo, we generally seek to register one or both as trademarks in the relevant international classes in any jurisdiction in which we have business offices or significant operations. We have registered the Morningstar name and/or logo in approximately 50 jurisdictions, including the EU.

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“Morningstar” and the Morningstar logo are both registered marks of Morningstar in the US. The table below includes some of the trademarks and service marks referenced in this Annual Report on Form 10-K (this Report):

Morningstar® Advisor WorkstationSM

Morningstar® Plan AdvantageSM

Morningstar Analyst RatingTM
Morningstar® Portfolio X-Ray®

Morningstar® ByAllAccounts® Morningstar Rating™

Morningstar® Data
Morningstar® Retirement ManagerSM

Morningstar DirectSM
Morningstar Style Box™

Morningstar® Direct Web ServicesSM
Morningstar Sustainability Rating™

Morningstar® IndexesMorningstar.com®

Morningstar® Managed PortfoliosSM
PitchBook®

Morningstar Market BarometerSM
DBRS®

Morningstar Office CloudSM
Sustainalytics®

In addition to trademark registrations, we hold several US and foreign patents and are applying for several additional patents in various jurisdictions around the world, including the US. Our existing patents include those for coordinate-based document processing/data entry, portfolio management analysis, manager structure optimization via different tax strategies, and improved grid-less table processing.

License agreements

We license our products and related intellectual property to our customers, generally for a fee, using our standard agreement forms, and we do not provide our products and services to customers or other users without having an agreement in place.

We maintain licensing agreements with most of our larger Morningstar operating companies worldwide, giving them access to our intellectual property, including, without limitation, our products, trademarks, databases and content, technology, and know-how. These agreements allow our operating companies to both market standard Morningstar products and services in their operating territories and to develop and sell territory-specific variants of those products under the Morningstar name in their specific territories.

In the ordinary course of our business, we obtain and use intellectual property from a variety of sources, including, without limitation, licensing it from third-party providers, developing it internally, and gathering it through publicly available sources (e.g., regulatory filings).

Seasonality

We believe our business has a minimal amount of seasonality. We sell most of our products with subscription terms of at least one year and we recognize revenue ratably over the noncancellable term of each subscription agreement.

We believe market movements and general market conditions have more influence on our performance than seasonality. The revenue we earn from asset-based fees depends on the value of assets on which we provide advisory services as well as the value of assets tracking our indexes; the size of our asset base can increase or decrease along with trends in market performance. In addition, our credit ratings business is subject to market effects on the level of fixed-income issuance.

Competitive Landscape

The economic and financial information industry includes a few large firms, as well as numerous smaller companies, including startup firms. Some of these companies have financial resources that are significantly greater than ours. We also compete with a variety of other companies of varying sizes in specific areas of our business. We discuss some of the key competitors in each area in the "Our Segments and Products" section of Part I, Item 1. Business of this Report.

We believe the most important competitive factors in our industry are brand and reputation, data accuracy and quality, technology, breadth of data coverage, quality of investment and credit research and analytics, design, product reliability, and value of the products and services provided.

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Research and Development

A key aspect of our growth strategy is to expand and enhance our existing products and services. We strive to adopt new technology, including AI, that can improve our products and services. Our current AI product offerings incorporate both internally-developed and third-party models and are generally intended to simplify user access to Morningstar research and data, both through Morningstar applications and directly through AI platforms. As a general practice, we manage our own websites and build our own software rather than relying on outside vendors. This allows us to control our technology development and better manage costs, enabling us to respond quickly to market changes and to meet customer needs efficiently. Our research and development initiatives include the integration of AI and related technologies into our internal processes and products with the goal of improving employee productivity, supporting data acquisition and analysis, and enhancing the functionality and user experience of our offerings, which includes a focus on expanded delivery of our data and research to AI platforms and applications.

Government Regulation

In addition to generally applicable laws and regulations, certain subsidiaries of Morningstar are subject to laws and regulations specific to the business activities they engage in. These laws and regulations are most pervasive across all or most of the markets in which we operate our credit ratings, investment management, investment research, ESG research, ratings and data, and indexes businesses. Regulatory bodies or agencies that regulate our subsidiaries that are engaged in these activities often have broad administrative powers, including powers to prohibit or restrict engaging in regulated business activities in addition to powers to censure, impose fines, and require remedial undertakings in cases of noncompliance. The rules governing the regulation of these subsidiaries are detailed and technical. Accordingly, the discussion below, which is general in nature, does not purport to be complete and is subject to change based on future legislative, enforcement, and supervisory activities. Additional legislation and regulations, including those not tied to currently regulated activities or changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and rules may adversely affect our business and profitability.

Morningstar Credit

Morningstar DBRS operates through licensed credit rating entities across major jurisdictions, each subject to local regulatory requirements (primarily relating to independent credit rating services in structured finance instruments, corporate credit issuer, insurance companies, and financial institutions), oversight, and periodic examination.

•United States: Morningstar DBRS’s US credit rating entity, DBRS, Inc., is registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a Nationally Recognized Statistical Rating Organization (NRSRO). DBRS, Inc. is subject to certain requirements, regulations, and annual examination under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (Exchange Act). DBRS, Inc.’s affiliated rating agencies, DBRS Limited, DBRS Ratings Limited, DBRS Ratings GmbH and DBRS Ratings Pty Limited, are each also registered with the SEC as credit rating affiliates of DBRS, Inc.

•Canada: Morningstar DBRS’s Canadian credit rating entity, DBRS Limited, is designated as a Designated Rating Organization (DRO) in Canada with the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC) as its principal regulator, and is subject to certain requirements, regulations, and examination by the OSC under National Instrument 25-101. DBRS Limited’s affiliated rating agencies, DBRS, Inc., DBRS Ratings Limited, and DBRS Ratings GmbH, are each also designated as DRO affiliates in Canada.

•United Kingdom: Morningstar DBRS’s credit rating entity located in the UK, DBRS Ratings Limited, is registered with, and regulated by, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a credit rating agency and is subject to certain regulatory requirements in the UK primarily relating to record-keeping, reporting, governance, and conflicts of interest.

•European Union: Morningstar DBRS´s credit rating entity in the EU, DBRS Ratings GmbH (located in Frankfurt, Germany), which together with its branches, DBRS Ratings GmbH Sucursal en España (located in Madrid, Spain) and DBRS Ratings GmbH, Branch India (located in Mumbai, India) is registered with and regulated by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) as a credit rating agency under Regulation (EC) No 1060/2009, as amended.

•Australia: Morningstar DBRS´s credit rating entity in Australia, DBRS Ratings Pty Limited, holds an Australian financial services license under the Australian Corporations Act 2001 (Au Act) to only provide credit ratings to "wholesale clients" within the meaning of section 761G of the Au Act.

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Investment Management and Investment Research

Morningstar provides investment management, advisor, and research services globally through subsidiaries registered with and supervised by local regulators.

•United States:

◦Morningstar Investment Management LLC (Morningstar Investment Management), is registered as an investment adviser with the SEC under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (Advisers Act) and has fiduciary obligations to clients and is subject to examination by the SEC. In 2025, Morningstar Investment Services LLC and Morningstar Research Services LLC withdrew their registrations as investment advisers with the SEC.

◦Morningstar Funds Trust (the Trust) is an SEC-registered open-end management investment company with Morningstar Investment Management serving as the sponsor and investment adviser of the Trust, subjecting it to the requirements of the Investment Company Act primarily relating to record-keeping, reporting, standards of care, valuation, and distribution. As sponsor and investment adviser to the Trust, Morningstar Investment Management is subject to examinations by the SEC.

◦Connected with the Trust, Morningstar Investment Management is registered with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) as a commodity pool operator (CPO) and a member of the National Futures Association (NFA). As a CPO, Morningstar Investment Management is subject to reporting and record-keeping requirements, as well as examinations by the NFA and/or the CFTC.

◦In cases where these subsidiaries provide investment advisory services to retirement plans and their participants, they may be acting as fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).

•Australia: Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited and Morningstar Investment Management Australia Limited are each registered under an Australian Financial Services license and subject to oversight by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The licenses require them to maintain positive net asset levels and minimum capital requirements, and to comply with the audit requirements of ASIC. Morningstar Investment Management Australia Limited is additionally the Responsible Entity and the issuer of units in managed funds for superannuation funds, institutions, platform distributors, financial advisers, and individuals within the Australian market.

•United Kingdom: Morningstar Investment Management Europe Limited, Smart Investment Management Limited, Morningstar Wealth Administration Limited and Morningstar Wealth Retirement Services Limited are authorized and regulated by the FCA to advise, arrange, and manage investments across financial instruments. All firms are subject to the applicable requirements of the FCA Handbook of rules and guidance.

•United Arab Emirates: Morningstar Wealth Administration Limited operates a branch office in the Dubai International Financial Centre, pursuant to the applicable requirements and regulations defined in the Dubai Financial Services Authority Rulebook.

•Channel Islands: Morningstar Wealth International Limited is authorized and regulated by the Jersey Financial Services Commission to deal in investments through an investment platform, subject to the applicable requirements and regulations set out in the Jersey Financial Services Commission Handbooks and Codes of Practice.

•South Africa: Morningstar Investment Management South Africa (Pty) Ltd is authorized and regulated by the South African Financial Sector Conduct Authority to provide certain financial services under both Category I (advisory) and Category II (discretionary) licenses, with activities subject to associated product approvals granted by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.

•Other Regions: Entities in other regions (including in Hong Kong, India, Japan, and Singapore, among others) are registered with their respective regulatory bodies but conduct limited regulated business activity to date (although this may change).

Morningstar Sustainalytics

GES International AB, a subsidiary of Morningstar Sustainalytics previously notified the Swedish Finansinspektionen under Section 3 of the Act on Proxy Advisors of its business activity as a proxy advisor in Sweden. In accordance with the UK Proxy Advisors (Shareholders’ Rights) Regulations 2019, Sustainalytics UK Ltd. was added to the FCA’s list of Proxy Advisors in early 2022 and is subject to certain disclosure and governance requirements.

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The provision of ESG ratings and data is the subject of both pending and proposed legislation and regulation. We continue to monitor pending and proposed ESG ratings and data legislation and regulations in the jurisdictions we operate in, including the UK. A program of regulatory readiness is currently underway aimed at adapting Morningstar Sustainalytics' business model, operational processes, and corporate organization for the purposes of the new EU ESG Rating Provider Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2024/3005).

Morningstar Indexes

Morningstar Indexes Limited was historically registered and authorized by the FCA as a UK benchmark administrator, and Morningstar Indexes GmbH was registered and authorized by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) as an EU benchmark administrator. In 2025, the transfer of administration of UK benchmarks to Morningstar Indexes GmbH was formally completed and the UK authorization terminated. Morningstar Indexes GmbH continues to be registered with, and regulated by, BaFin and is authorized to act as an EU benchmark administrator.

Effective January 2026, amendments to the EU Benchmark Regulation removed all benchmarks other than those benchmarks with significant economic relevance for the EU market or that contribute to key EU policies, from the regulation’s scope. The result is that the majority of Morningstar Indexes’ benchmarks will technically fall out of scope of the EU Benchmark Regulation Morningstar Indexes GmbH is registered with, and regulated by, the BaFin and is authorized to act as an EU benchmark administrator.

Information about our Executive Officers

As of January 1, 2026, our executive officers were the following individuals*:

Name Age Position

Joe Mansueto 69 Executive Chairman and Chairman of the Board

Kunal Kapoor 50 Chief Executive Officer

Michael Holt 46 Chief Financial Officer

*Effective November 21, 2025, our former chief revenue officer, Danny Dunn, departed the company.

Joe Mansueto

Joe Mansueto founded Morningstar in 1984 and became executive chairman in 2017. He has served as chairman of the board of directors from the company’s inception, and as chief executive officer from 1984 to 1996 and again from 2000 to 2016.

Under Mansueto’s leadership, Morningstar was recognized as a top employer from the Chicago Tribune and Fortune, a fast-growing company from Crain’s Chicago Business, and a leader in design from AIGA Chicago Chapter. Mansueto has been named to lists of influencers and innovators by Chicago Magazine, InvestmentNews, MutualFundWire.com, and SmartMoney. He has received awards from PlanSponsor, Tiburon, and the University of Chicago.

Before founding Morningstar, Mansueto was a securities analyst at Harris Associates. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Mansueto owns two soccer teams, Chicago Fire FC and FC Lugano, and invests in several media companies, real estate properties and other business and philanthropic ventures. He previously served on the board of directors of Whole Foods Market, Inc.

Kunal Kapoor

Kunal Kapoor, CFA, is chief executive officer of Morningstar. Before assuming his current role in 2017, he served as president, responsible for product development and innovation, sales and marketing, and driving strategic prioritization across the firm.

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Since joining Morningstar in 1997 as a data analyst, Kapoor has held a variety of roles at the firm, including leadership positions in research and innovation. He served as director of mutual fund research and was part of the team that launched Morningstar Investment Services, Inc., before moving on to other roles including director of business strategy for international operations, and later, president and chief investment officer of Morningstar Investment Services. During his tenure, he also led Morningstar.com® and the firm’s data business as well as its global products and client solutions group.

Kapoor holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and environmental policy from Monmouth College and a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation, is a member of the CFA Society of Chicago, and served on the board of PitchBook, prior to its acquisition by Morningstar in late 2016. Kapoor is also a member of the board of directors of Wealth Enhancement Group, a privately-owned independent wealth management firm, a member of the Council on Chicago Booth, and serves on the boards of several Chicago non-profit organizations. In 2010, Crain’s Chicago Business named him to its annual 40 Under 40 class, a list that includes professionals from a variety of industries who are contributing to Chicago’s business, civic, and philanthropic landscape.

Michael Holt

Michael Holt, CFA, is chief financial officer of Morningstar, responsible for controllership, tax, internal audit, financial planning and analysis, procurement, treasury, real estate and facilities, and investor relations.

Before assuming his current role in 2025, Holt served as Morningstar’s chief strategy officer for seven years and, in 2023, was also named president of Morningstar's Research and Investments group, overseeing the 400-person team responsible for Morningstar’s rigorous, independent equity and managed investment analysis and ratings as well as portfolio construction for the company’s investment management capabilities.

Holt first joined Morningstar in 2008 as an equity analyst, and his strengths in assessing company value and competitive advantage earned him progressively more senior roles over the following six years. He led the global equity research team from 2014 to 2018, before he assumed the corporate strategy position, in which he played an important role in growing Morningstar’s revenue profile and set of capabilities through capital allocation and acquisitions.

He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a bachelor’s degree in business from Indiana University.

Company Information

Morningstar, Inc. was incorporated in Illinois on May 16, 1984. Our corporate headquarters is located at 22 West Washington Street, Chicago, Illinois, 60602.

We maintain a corporate website at http://www.morningstar.com/company. Shareholders and other interested parties may access our investor relations website at http://shareholders.morningstar.com, which we use as a primary channel for disclosing key information to our investors, some of which may contain material and previously non-public information. Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to any of these documents are available free of charge on this site as soon as reasonably practicable after the reports are filed with or furnished to the SEC. We also post quarterly press releases on our financial results and other documents containing additional information related to Morningstar on this site. We provide this website and the information contained in or connected to it for informational purposes only. That information is not part of this Report.

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