Morningstar Direct Reviews & Product Details

I like the screening, performance reporting, presentation studio, and AI analytics lab features most. I can do everything with these features—starting from building a screen, selecting specific funds or stocks, adding them to a performance report, and doing an analysis. If I want to visualize these, I am going to Presentation Studio. That's how all of these features are solving all of our problems. The initial setup was easy; you just install the software on your PC and it takes 10-15 minutes. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

They can improve the UI and make it run on Macbooks. I don't like the web/browser version as it's too slow. A more modern and light version, and also faster in processing would be better. Also, they can add more data points for stocks. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

To conduct a deeper analysis of portfolios, including benchmarking and look-through analysis. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It’s a complex tool, and it’s a pity that sometimes it’s easier to find a fund through free websites than by using the tool itself. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The Morningstar platform helps me evaluate clients current portfolios so I can provide feedback as to where the new portfolio will help them achieve their financial goals. Love how the portfolio provides the x-ray update on the portfolio and it gives credibility to the client I am speaking with.

It is easy to use and can usually find information within minutes.

In addition the daily articles are on top of current events and helps me stay informed. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Where I would like to see improvement on Direct is in the search bar. When I am looking for a sector or ESG or other specialty type investment, the search bar is not useful.

Also would like more portfolios to build out, I believe it limits the count to 20 or 25 today. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really like how easy the platform is to use. I use it daily, and it feels more intuitive each time. Morningstar’s tools let us run portfolio analysis and compare different asset classes. Overall, it has been an excellent fit for our data management needs and provides great value for money for our company. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I have nothing negative to say. Customer service is their greatest strength—there’s always someone available to answer my calls or emails and help resolve any issues I have. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Depth of data, integration with Claude/ChatGPT. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

UX/UI is not great and this is the biggest point of contention I have. The new web version is better, and much welcomed. But there are still many bugs and shortfalls I have experienced with it.

The presentation studio - is the worst software I have ever used. Shockingly bad. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I really like the tax optimization tool, and the platform feels very robust overall. It offers a lot of flexibility when it comes to the commission structure, and the clean, clear design makes it easy to navigate and use. I also love the quick report-generation features, which help me pull together and present the necessary information without hassle. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It requires numerous manual configurations, and sometimes the data doesn’t transfer correctly. Generating the proposal can also take a considerable amount of time. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I find the billing tools extremely helpful across the board. The detailed historical data is invaluable for reviewing past activity and informing decisions. I appreciate that we can create planning features for clients, and the suite of applications feels comprehensive. The dashboard is clean and quite intuitive, which makes it easy to navigate. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I wish it were more intuitive overall. Learning all the functions can be difficult, and I'd like to see faster integration. Sometimes it feels overly complex, and the lack of customization is also an ongoing issue. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The accuracy of the data is a strong point for me. I also like the new web version, and the AI assistant has been helpful. The charts are clear and make it easier to understand the information at a glance. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It feels rigid overall. We’re not able to customize things as much as we’d like, and it also lags a lot regardless of internet speed. On top of that, it’s very expensive. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Morningstar Direct provides access to a plethora to asset manager and their funds' datapoints like no other platform. I am always finding new ways to highlight how we differentiate from competitors by leveraging interesting data that is not as comprehensive anywhere else. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Presentation Studio is very outdated and it is annoying that basic things like changing the size of font can be clunky. Similarly, workspace could also be more intuitive to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like how I can run reports and performance reports really easily, and a lot of times it'll come up in conversation when an advisor or client wants something to look at quickly. It's nice that I can just pull it up and also compare our model portfolios on how they are constructed today versus how they were constructed in the past. Morningstar Direct makes it quick and easy to find out underlying details, which is great for when we have new clients with a bunch of holdings. I can import their existing portfolios and categorize everything by asset class, helping me transition it to one of our portfolios. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

A lot of the times, there's errors going on. Even though I use it for performance reporting a lot. The alternatives, whether it's product equity, part of real estate, infrastructure, or private credit are really delayed to get reported on. So it's usually not accurate even if it's saying it is. And there's just often glitches. So it crashes a lot. I'll be running a report or something, and it'll completely crash out or the screen will go blank. Specifically in presentation studio, it could take forever to load and refresh. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.