Morningstar Upgrades Advisor Workstation

Morningstar said the new version includes all of the elements of the original, but incorporates the latest Web technology with interface and usability improvements.

One of the most requested new features Morningstar added is the ability for Advisor Workstation users to work collaboratively with their peers, either within a group office or across multiple offices, via a new file sharing feature. Through file-sharing, any record or file in Advisor Workstation that can be saved can also be shared with a colleague who is a registered user, and advisers can customize the permissions to each user and file.      

Advisers can personalize the homepage’s view to meet their needs. A quick-start feature allows advisers to launch their most frequently used tools with one click, while a top securities list provides the latest, at-a-glance performance statistics for securities used most frequently in the practice.     

Additionally, advisers can now generate reports like Investment Detail Reports and Quicktakes directly from the homepage, and can prominently display their most recently modified files for easy access. A number of market-monitoring tools such as the Morningstar Market Barometer, a tool that provides instant analysis of market trends by Morningstar style index, can also be displayed.      

Advisor Workstation is still built on a modular platform that allows firms to configure to their specifications.  The core capabilities of Advisor Workstation’s five existing modules have not changed, but Morningstar said it has added many functionality and usability improvements:

The firm is also developing two new Advisor Workstation modules that the company expects to be available as integrated capabilities in early 2011. The Real-Time Module, powered by Morningstar QuoteSpeed, features real-time market data and news from dozens of international and U.S. sources, covering all major equity exchanges and indexes, as well as foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Coverage will also include futures, options, commodities, and precious metals.      

The Analyst Research Module will deliver Morningstar’s independent perspective, consistent methodology, and actionable insight for stocks, funds, ETFs, and IPOs. Advisers will also be able to access Morningstar analyst reports, watch videos, view data pages with key financial and historical information, and read insightful articles.  

New Advisor Workstation clients will be launched on the 2.0 platform while existing clients will migrate to it over the next 18 months, based on a migration schedule Morningstar is establishing with each client.      

More information is available at global.morningstar.com/workstation.