Morningstar adds municipal bonds analysis to online research platform

By Ashley Montgomery

Kansas City, Kan., July 16 - Morningstar, Inc. has launched research on 1 million municipal bonds, according to a news release.

"The municipal bond asset class is large and opaque and individual investors own about 60 percent of the market," said Haywood Kelly, Morningstar senior vice president of equity and credit research, in a news release.

"Our aim is to provide greater transparency for investors, offer actionable and timely analysis and equip financial advisors with information and tools to help them judge the relative value of municipal bonds and to make better informed investment decisions for their clients."

The company said that the research assesses the relative credit quality and fiscal distress on 100 municipal obligors based on a methodology that looks at economic stability, financial condition, debt and long-term liabilities and management and operating environment. Each of those four factors is scored and compiled to reach an overall score.

The company will update the reports on the obligors daily and as market events warrant.

The research is offered as part of Morningstar's analyst research center, an online research database.

Chicago-based Morningstar is an independent investment researcher.

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