Morningstar Articles

Morningstar, Inc. is an investment research, analysis and ratings firm. It provides in-depth investing analysis and trusted opinions throughout the industry.

These articles were written by Investor Solutions President, Frank Armstrong, for Morningstar.

For more on Morningstar, click here.

07/23/10 - Total Return Investing: A Superior Solution to Generating Reliable Distributions

Your grandfather invested for income and crammed his portfolio full of dividend stocks, preferred shares, convertible bonds, and more generic...read more

12/16/01 - The Beauty of Conversion

The distribution options after the traditional IRA's required beginning date leave more than a little to be desired. As discussed in previous...read more

12/03/01 - Investing, Circa 1973

The economics, investment, and finance courses I took as a student in the 1960s are probably pretty representative of that generation's investment...read more

11/26/01 - MPT: The Watershed Event of Modern Finance

It's a rare thing for a graduate student's thesis to change the world. But Harry Markowitz's 1952 dissertation did just that. Later republished as...read more

11/07/01 - From Outcast To Champion: The History of Funds

Three Boston securities executives announced their new investment vehicle in 1924: the mutual fund. The new offering, Massachusetts Investors...read more

10/29/01 - The Growth Bucket and The Liquidity Bucket

A young widow with two children, who is struggling to get by, will certainly need a different portfolio than her single friend on the corporate...read more

10/01/01 - Corporate Finance and Corporate Performance

Back in my college finance classes, we struggled to construct an optimum corporate capital structure. Smart corporate finance officers supposedly...read more

08/25/01 - Asset Class investing

Would you like to exert more control over your investment results, explore strategies with the highest probability of achieving your goals, lower...read more

08/10/01 - Long Term vs. Short Term Bonds

In my first column, I discussed some of the insights offered by modern financial research, and I promised that this time around I'd offer...read more

07/10/01 - Adding International Equities to Your Portfolio

In our last installment, we made significant improvements to the bond portion of our portfolio. Now let's turn our attention to the stock...read more

06/10/01 - Adding Small Caps to Your Portfolio

In our last column, we diversified internationally using the traditional foreign asset class, Morgan Stanley's Europe, Australia, and...read more

05/20/01 - Improve Your Portfolio: Think Value

Many of you who read the previous installment in this series probably weren't surprised at the Fama-French finding that small-company stocks...read more

05/16/01 - Time for a Little R&R

In our past articles we have worked hard and developed a pretty good portfolio. Now it's time for a little R&R--That's Review and Reality...read more

04/30/01 - Applying Our Lessons

We have built a nice little portfolio, but it won't be attractive to all investors. Some will want more return, and are willing to live with more...read more

04/26/01 - Expanding Our Horizons

Recently, emerging-market investors have had a wild ride. First, the Mexican disaster not so long ago, and the subsequent "Tequila Effect" that...read more

04/24/01 - The Case Against Gold

Two thousand years ago, a Roman senator could buy a really spiffy, top-of-the-line toga for about the equivalent of one ounce of gold. The Armani...read more

03/17/01 - Real Estate's Place

Real estate is an important asset class. Unfortunately, it's not an easy one for most investors to gain access to. The real estate market meets...read more

03/10/01 - Hedge Funds As An Asset Class

Hedge funds, long the unknown preserve of the super rich, have been making lots of news lately. Ever thought about becoming a hedge fund manager...read more

03/01/01 - Commodities As An Asset Class

I began selling securities in 1974--not particularly auspicious timing. From 1973 to 1974, the US stock market lost nearly half its value....read more

02/27/01 - Adding Bonds To Your Portfolio

Bonds are typically issued at par, redeemed at par, and along the way they fluctuate in value as prevailing interest rates change. Their total...read more

02/25/01 - Retirement: The Accumulation Phase

Retirement is one of investors’ biggest concerns. Yet surprisingly few investors have a comprehensive road map to get them where they want to...read more

02/17/01 - Retirement Planning: Not Relying On The Averages

Place one hand on a hot stove, and the other on a slab of dry ice. Any statistician will tell you that on average, you are comfortable--but, of...read more

02/10/01 - Retirement Planning: Making It Last Forever

The one giant disaster most retirees would like to avoid is running out of money while still alive. Everything else pales in comparison to that...read more

02/05/01 - Retirement Planning: Having It Both Ways

It could be so simple. If average returns were real returns, retirees could assume they would make, say, 10% each year, spend 6%, and count on 4%...read more

01/30/01 - Battling College Costs: Section 529 Plans

The second biggest worry for many investors--after retirement--is how they are ever going to find the bucks to send the kids to college. Whatever...read more

01/26/01 - Battling College Costs Part II

College education costs are high enough to put fear into the hearts of most parents. But our children’s financial success or failure will most...read more

01/20/01 - Less Than Meets The Eye: Equity Linked CD's

It sounded too good to be true, which should have tipped me off: A five-year equity-linked CD that offers a return-of-principal guarantee backed...read more

01/15/01 - Keeping What You Have: Asset Protection Planning

In 1994, 800,000 lawyers filed 14 million civil suits, an increase of 25% over the preceding five years. Seven of 10 adults will be sued during...read more

01/10/01 - Asset Protection: The Basics

Are you sure you will never be sued? Are you sure that if you are, the courts will be fair? Are you willing to bet your entire financial future on...read more

01/09/01 - Hazardous To Your Wealth

Benjamin Graham was right: Investors are their own worst enemies. It's no great secret that investors generally achieve disappointing...read more

01/07/01 - Perils of Owning Company Stock

Here’s a little food for thought: The August 23 issue of Pension and Investments states that that 43.8% of the total assets of the 50 largest...read more