Track market-moving stories before they get noisy

A tax bill can arrive for gains you never chose to take, and the window to fight back closes December 31. Knowing which moves to make before year-end, and which ones quietly void your losses, separates investors who absorb the…

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You never sold a share. The mutual fund is still sitting in your taxable brokerage account, and you plan to keep it for years. Then a Form 1099-DIV shows up with a capital gain on it, and you owe tax on that gain anyway.

The gain came from the fund’s managers. They sold winners inside the portfolio and passed the profit along to you. One common defense is selling losing positions elsewhere in a taxable account before December 31, so those losses offset the distribution on the return. Fund estimates are already coming out. Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN | MORN Price Prediction) published its look at which funds will pay the biggest 2026 capital gains distributions on October 27, 2026.

Why Your Fund Sends a Tax Bill When You Never Sold IRS Publication 550 (TY2025) says mutual funds pay capital gain distributions to you or credit them to your account. The amount shows up on Form 1099-DIV, box 2a. You report these distributions “as long-term capital gains, regardless of how long you owned your shares”. So even if you bought the fund in November, the distribution counts as long-term.

Reinvesting doesn’t get you out of it. Most funds let shareholders reinvest distributions automatically. But when those new shares are bought at fair market value, “you must still report the dividends as income”. The reinvested amount becomes the cost basis of the new shares, so keep records of it and you won’t pay tax on that money a second time when you sell.

The late-year timing is written into the tax code. Under 26 U.S.C. § 4982, a fund owes a 4% excise tax on any shortfall below a required distribution. That required amount includes 98.2% of the fund’s capital gain net income for the one-year period ending October 31. That’s why the payouts pile up in the last weeks of the calendar.

How Harvested Losses Wipe Out Fund Distributions Distributions go in Part II of Schedule D, alongside your other long-term gains and losses. Publication 544 (TY2025) puts it simply: “Capital losses are allowed in full against capital gains plus up to $3,000 of ordinary income.” Each dollar of harvested loss offsets a dollar of distribution before any tax is calculated.

If your losses are bigger than your gains, a annual limit applies to the extra: $3,000, or $1,500 if married filing separately. Whatever is left over carries forward until it is completely used up, and it remains long-term or short-term, whichever it was originally.

The IRS goes through its own example. Bob and Shelly sold securities in 2025 at a $7,000 capital loss. They had no other capital transactions and taxable income of $26,000. They deduct $3,000 on their joint 2025 return and carry the unused $4,000 forward. If they had also received fund distributions, the loss would have offset those first, dollar for dollar, before counting toward the deduction.

How much this saves depends on your bracket. For 2025, the 0% rate on net capital gain covered taxable income up to $96,700 for joint filers and $48,350 for single filers. Above those lines, most gains are taxed at 15%, with 20% at the top. If you remains inside the 0% zone, harvesting doesn’t buy you much. Above it, the savings add up.

Buying Before the Record Date Means Buying Someone Else’s Gain When a fund pays a distribution, its share price drops by about the same amount. If you buy shares just before the record date, part of what you just invested comes straight back to you as a taxable distribution.

That’s why many fund companies post estimated distributions before the payout. Before you put new money into a fund in a taxable account late in the year, look up the estimate and the record date. Often, waiting until after the distribution avoids the bill entirely.

Wash Sale Rule Can Quietly Erase Your Harvested Loss Publication 550 disallows your loss if you buy substantially identical securities within 30 days before or after the sale. That includes purchases in your IRA or Roth IRA. A purchase by your spouse counts too. The disallowed loss gets added to the cost of the new shares, which postpones the loss deduction until you sell those shares.

Funds set two traps here. First, switching into a near-twin fund, such as one that tracks the same index, invites a “substantially identical” challenge. Second, automatic reinvestment counts as a purchase. If the same fund reinvests a distribution within 30 days of your loss sale, you lose the deduction on a matching number of shares. Turn off reinvestment before you harvest.

ETFs and Index Funds Tend to Leave Smaller Tax Bills Index funds trade less, so they have fewer gains to pass along. ETFs usually handle redemptions by handing securities directly to large trading firms instead of selling them. That lets them get rid of low-basis shares without triggering gains. Still, neither type of fund guarantees a zero distribution.

Where you hold a fund matters too. Active funds that trade a lot do less damage inside an IRA or 401(k), where distributions aren’t taxed when they’re paid.

Pull the distribution estimates for every fund in your taxable account and compare them against the positions sitting on losses. Investors who harvest losses typically sell before December 31, turn off reinvestment, and stay out of the same holding for more than 30 days. Choosing which lots to sell is math worth running with a CPA before the year ends.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Designed to provide broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market, the iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF (ISCG - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on June 28, 2004.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $970.81 million, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap GrowthWith more potential comes more risk, and small cap companies, with market capitalization below $2 billion, epitomizes this way of thinking.

Qualities of growth stocks include faster growth rates compared to the broader market, as well as higher valuations and higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. When you consider growth versus value, growth stocks are usually the clear winner in strong bull markets but tend to fall flat in nearly all other environments.

CostsCost is an important factor in selecting the right ETF, and cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts if all other fundamentals are the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.06%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.65%.

Sector Exposure and Top HoldingsEven though ETFs offer diversified exposure that minimizes single stock risk, investors should also look at the actual holdings inside the fund. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Information Technology sector -- about 23.8% of the portfolio. Industrials and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Okta Class A (OKTA) accounts for about 1.17% of total assets, followed by Atlassian Corp Class A (TEAM) and Guardant Health (GH).

The top 10 holdings account for about 6.91% of total assets under management.

Performance and RiskISCG seeks to match the performance of the MORNINGSTAR US SML CP BRD GRWTH EXTD ID before fees and expenses. The Morningstar US Small Cap Broad Growth Extended Index comprises of small-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit growth characteristics.

The ETF has added roughly 12.34% so far this year and it's up approximately 11.67% in the last one year (as of 10/29/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $51.70 and $66.36.

The ETF has a beta of 1.14 and standard deviation of 20.01% for the trailing three-year period. With about 926 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

AlternativesiShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, ISCG is an outstanding option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) and the Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $14.02 billion in assets, Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF has $22.65 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBK charges 0.05%.

Bottom-LineAn increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Dave Ramsey and Morningstar sit on opposite ends of retirement math, and the gap between their withdrawal rates could mean the difference between a comfortable retirement and a depleted portfolio. Where dividends land in that debate depends on a risk…

Capital Group introduced target-date withdrawal ranges on October 21. It’s the latest firm trying to answer the hardest question in retirement: how much can you spend each year without running out? Two of the best-known answers are far apart. Dave Ramsey’s guide uses an 8% withdrawal rate, and research from Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN | MORN Price Prediction) sets the safe starting rate at 3.9%. The reasons for that gap explain where dividend income fits.

Two Numbers Built on Very Different Assumptions Dave Ramsey’s company publishes a guide on how much you need to retire, and its example uses an 8% annual withdrawal rate. The same Ramsey Solutions example assumes an 11% average annual return. The idea is that if the portfolio earns more than you take out, the principal continues growing.

Morningstar’s State of Retirement Income report, released in December 2025, found that 3.9% is the highest safe starting withdrawal rate for people retiring in 2026 who want steady income that rises with inflation. That figure assumes a moderate stock allocation, a long retirement, and a 90% chance that money is still left at the end. It also leaves out Social Security. Morningstar found that retirees who let their spending rise and fall with the market could start at nearly 6%.

Why Average Returns Can Sink a Retirement Plan Ramsey Solutions’ 11% average says nothing about the order the returns arrive in. Sequence-of-returns risk is the danger of a bad market early in retirement. If stocks drop in year one and you still pull out the same dollar amount, you’re selling shares at low prices to pay the bills. Those shares can’t take part in the recovery. Morningstar’s lower number shows planning for that case.

Inflation adds pressure. The Research CPI for Americans 62 and older reached 368.066 in September. That was up 0.5% from August and the highest reading in the past year. The index weights housing and medical care more heavily. Medicare’s standard Part B premium rose to $202.90 a month from $185.

Dividends Speak Directly to the Sequence Problem Dividends come in as cash. A retiree who covers some spending with dividends can leave shares alone after a crash, the exact risk at the center of the Ramsey 8% vs. Morningstar 3.9% debate. On The Clark Howard Podcast, advisor Wes Moss noted that “dividends have grown at twice the rate on average of inflation,” which helps protect purchasing power.

Moss also flagged the limit: “You can have a portfolio that has a 4% dividend yield, but you would have to really get specific on pretty darn high dividend yielders in that three and a half to four and a half percent range. There aren’t that many of them.” Companies can cut dividends, and they often do in recessions, right when retirees need the cash most. A very high yield can signal the market expects a cut. On its own, a high yield doesn’t make a retirement plan.

Bonds now carry more of the load. The 10-year Treasury yielded 4.96% on October 22, after hitting 5.31% on October 5. That yield sits between the two withdrawal rates, so the fixed-income side of a portfolio can produce real income without selling anything.

Social Security Changes the Math for Everyone Morningstar’s figure excludes Social Security, which still funds part of most retirees’ budgets. The Social Security Administration’s 2027 fact sheet sets a 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment. That raises the estimated average retired worker’s benefit to $2,170 a month from $2,095, and $3,355 for a couple where both receive benefits. Every dollar of guaranteed income is a dollar your portfolio doesn’t have to produce.

What Decides Your Own Withdrawal Rate Which number fits you depends on three things: how much you can cut spending in a bad year, how much of your budget Social Security and pensions already cover, and how much of the rest dividends and bond interest can pay without selling shares. Retirees with fixed budgets are closer to Morningstar’s base case. Retirees with flexible budgets and solid guaranteed income have more room, though Morningstar’s own flexible-spending research stops at nearly 6%. Morningstar updates this research annually, and the next edition will reflect these figures.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Leveraged ETFs charge a management fee you can see on the fact sheet, but a second party quietly collects a separate financing fee. A familiar name from the crypto world just bought its way into that hidden revenue stream.

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Who’s really making money on leveraged ETFs? The issuer collects a management fee, the number printed on every fact sheet. Behind many of these funds sits a second earner. It’s the firm that supplies the leverage, which charges the fund a financing fee that rarely gets mentioned.

Ripple, the crypto payments company, now collects that second fee. Its prime brokerage arm, Ripple Prime, is financing leveraged stock ETFs, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal that CoinDesk shared. In one example, CoinDesk estimated that a single Tradr fund pays Ripple roughly 8% a year in financing at current rates.

How a Fund Doubles a Stock Without Buying Double the Shares Say a fund promises twice the daily return of NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction). The reporting shows the fund can get that leverage by signing a total return swap. That’s a contract where a broker pays the fund whatever the stock returns, and the fund pays the broker a fee in exchange.

The broker provides the exposure and hedges its own risk, and the fund pays a financing fee for this, separate from the management fee shareholders see on the fact sheet.

What One Sandisk Fund Pays Ripple Each Year CoinDesk cited The Wall Street Journal in its report. The Tradr fund targeting twice the daily move of Sandisk (NASDAQ:SNDK) pays Ripple the overnight bank funding rate plus four percentage points. The overnight bank funding rate is a benchmark for what banks pay to borrow money overnight.

CoinDesk puts the total at roughly 8% annualized at current rates, charged on the swap exposure and separate from the ETF’s management fee. That figure applies to this one fund. Other leveraged ETFs and their financing firms set their own terms.

This is real money flowing out of the fund on top of the management fee, and shareholders pay it indirectly because the cost reduces the fund’s returns.

Banks Stepped Back, So Ripple Bought Its Way In Banks have traditionally supplied much of this financing. The reporting indicates tighter capital and risk requirements opened space for nonbank firms, including Ripple Prime, Jane Street and Clear Street.

The client base is large. CoinDesk cited Morningstar Direct. The database from Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN) shows the U.S. market has 593 leveraged ETFs holding more than $256 billion, including 426 funds tracking individual stocks.

Ripple got in through an acquisition. CoinDesk reported that Ripple paid $1.25 billion for Hidden Road, a multi-asset prime brokerage, in October 2025. A prime brokerage handles the back office for big traders: it clears their trades, loans them money, and finances their positions.

In August, Ripple launched a Delta One business offering total return swaps tied to U.S. stocks, market indexes, and digital assets. “Delta One” is Wall Street shorthand for products that move one-for-one with an underlying asset. Ripple said at the time that the operation had more than $1 billion in regulatory net capital. That’s the buffer of liquid assets regulators require a broker to hold.

Ripple also said, as reported by CoinDesk, that it had completed a $275 million senior debt offering to help finance further growth. It also announced an expanded agreement with hedge fund manager Brevan Howard.

Ripple hasn’t disclosed how much revenue this business brings in. It also hasn’t said how much of the activity uses XRP (CRYPTO:XRP) or the XRP Ledger. The reporting doesn’t connect this business to demand for the token.

Daily Resets Put the Lender at Risk, and the Costs Reach Your Returns The fee comes with risk for the lender. Leveraged ETFs reset their exposure every day. The reporting notes a sharp move in a single stock can leave the financing firm exposed if a fund’s assets aren’t enough to cover the losses. The fee is what the lender earns for carrying that risk.

For investors, this business sits inside a crowded market. Hundreds of funds compete for the same traders. Part of the cost of running leveraged exposure lands on shareholders through financing charges that never show up as a separate line item. Leveraged products belong in the speculation portion of a portfolio, not the core, and we wrote a free guide on sizing that portion correctly here.

So when you buy a leveraged ETF, at least two parties get paid. The issuer collects the management fee. The firm financing the leverage collects a spread, like the one the Tradr Sandisk fund pays Ripple. You see the first cost on the fact sheet. The second one is buried inside the fund’s returns.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Looking for broad exposure to the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market? You should consider the iShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IMCG - Free Report) , a passively managed exchange traded fund launched on June 28, 2004.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $4.04 billion, making it one of the larger ETFs attempting to match the Mid Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Mid Cap GrowthCompared to large and small cap companies, mid cap businesses tend to have higher growth prospects and are less volatile, respectively, with market capitalization between $2 billion and $10 billion. These types of companies, then, have a good balance of stability and growth potential.

Qualities of growth stocks include faster growth rates compared to the broader market, as well as higher valuations and higher than average sales and earnings growth rates. Also, growth stocks are a type of equity that carries more risk compared to others. Compared to value stocks, growth stocks are a safer bet in a strong bull market, but don't perform as strongly in almost all other financial environments.

CostsInvestors should also pay attention to an ETF's expense ratio. Lower cost products will produce better results than those with a higher cost, assuming all other metrics remain the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.06%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.66%.

Sector Exposure and Top HoldingsEven though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector -- about 23.3% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Financials round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Snowflake (SNOW) accounts for about 1.59% of total assets, followed by Fortinet (FTNT) and Cloudflare Class A (NET).

The top 10 holdings account for about 13.57% of total assets under management.

Performance and RiskIMCG seeks to match the performance of the MORNINGSTAR US MID CAP BROAD GROWTH INDX before fees and expenses. The Morningstar US Mid Cap Broad Growth Index comprises of mid-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit growth characteristics.

The ETF return is roughly 17.88% so far this year and it's up approximately 15.41% in the last one year (as of 10/20/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $76.01 and $100.54.

The ETF has a beta of 1.13 and standard deviation of 17.27% for the trailing three-year period. With about 263 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

AlternativesiShares Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, IMCG is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Mid Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF (IWP) and the Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF (VOT) track a similar index. While iShares Russell Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $19.03 billion in assets, Vanguard Morningstar Mid-Cap Growth ETF has $19.02 billion. IWP has an expense ratio of 0.23% and VOT charges 0.05%.

Bottom-LineAn increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Choosing between a high-growth disruptor and an established data powerhouse requires weighing rapid innovation against steady, diversified performance. Investors today are looking at Robinhood Markets (HOOD +1.19%) and Morningstar (MORN +0.03%) as potential winners.

Robinhood primarily targets the retail segment with mobile-first trading and expanding crypto offerings. Morningstar serves a broad spectrum of institutional and retail clients with its gold-standard research and data platforms. This comparison examines their growth, financial health, and risks to help you decide which stock fits your 2026 goals.

The case for Robinhood MarketsRobinhood Markets sells online investing and trading services to a growing base of nearly 28.5 million funded customers. It primarily targets retail investors, but the firm is increasingly competing for space among fintech stocks by expanding into institutional services. Through its acquisition of Bitstamp, it now offers cryptocurrency services like lending and settlement, including support for Bitcoin. Additionally, Robinhood has a joint venture with SIG to operate an institutional-grade futures exchange.

In FY 2025, revenue reached nearly $4.5 billion, representing growth of close to 51.6% over the prior year. This resulted in net income of approximately $1.9 billion for the fiscal year. The net margin for the year reached approximately 42.1%, though this was a slight decline from the 47.8% net margin reported in FY 2024. The strong revenue growth highlights the success of its expanding product lineup and increased trading activity.

As of its December 2025 balance sheet, Robinhood reported a debt-to-equity ratio of nearly 1.3x. This metric measures total debt relative to shareholder equity, indicating the company uses a moderate amount of leverage. Its current ratio, which measures the ability to cover short-term debts with short-term assets, is approximately 1.3x. Free cash flow, calculated as cash flow from operations minus capital expenditures, was roughly $1.6 billion in FY 2025.

The case for MorningstarMorningstar serves a wide variety of clients, including financial advisors, asset managers, and individual investors. It provides data and research platforms like PitchBook, which offers insights into private capital markets. The company also provides investment management services and credit ratings for corporate and sovereign instruments. As of late 2025, its assets under management and advisement were approximately $378 billion.

In FY 2025, the firm reported revenue of roughly $2.4 billion, reflecting growth of approximately 7.5% compared to FY 2024. Net income for the period was nearly $374.2 million. The net margin was roughly 15.3%, which is similar to the 16.3% net margin from the previous fiscal year. This stability reflects a diversified business model that relies on recurring subscriptions and asset-based fees rather than just trading volume.

As of its December 2025 balance sheet, Morningstar reported a debt-to-equity ratio of approximately 1.2x. This figure measures total debt against shareholder equity. The current ratio, which compares short-term assets to short-term liabilities, is roughly 1.0x. Free cash flow was nearly $442.6 million for the fiscal year, representing cash generated from operations after accounting for capital expenditures.

Risk profile comparisonRobinhood faces significant regulatory and litigation risks, particularly regarding its payment for order flow practices and its new prediction markets platform. Lawsuits have already alleged that some of its event contracts constitute illegal gambling, which could lead to significant costs. The company also depends on third-party providers like Amazon for cloud infrastructure. Technical failures or cybersecurity breaches could cause lasting reputational harm and impact its transaction-based revenue.

Morningstar faces risks regarding its independence and reputation. If investors perceive conflicts of interest in its credit ratings or research, its credibility could suffer significantly. The firm also faces technological pressure, particularly from the rise of artificial intelligence. Failure to adapt or errors in AI systems could lead to a loss of competitive advantage. Furthermore, its revenue is sensitive to market volatility, which affects asset-based fees and client spending on research products.

Valuation comparisonRobinhood trades at a significantly higher premium than Morningstar, reflecting its much faster revenue growth and recent expansion into new institutional markets.

MetricRobinhood MarketsMorningstarForward P/E49.8x16.8xP/S ratio19.9x3.0xValuation metrics include sourcing from Financial Modeling Prep (FMP) and may differ from other data providers.

Which stock would I buy in 2026?Morningstar is an established but slow-growing financial data provider and investment manager. Its revenue has grown 22% since the beginning of 2024, and its stock price is down nearly 27% on a total return basis in that time. It pays a dividend that currently yields just under 1%, and it's actively repurchasing shares -- buying $400 million worth of its own stock year to date as of June 30. That improves shareholder value and may indicate that management believes its stock is undervalued. Income investors may be interested in its dividend, and risk-averse investors will likely appreciate its stability, though there may be other established financial giants that offer the same, if not better results.

Robinhood is just about everything Morningstar isn't. It offers online investing and trading services and is branching out into crypto and futures trading, and it makes money from users trading frequently on its platform. Its quarterly revenue has grown about 185% since the beginning of 2024 -- but it hasn't been a straight line higher. Nor has its stock price, which has gained 757% in that time frame. Robinhood doesn't pay a dividend, but it did approve a $1.5 billion share repurchase program in March 2026 that it plans to execute over the next three years.

Morningstar's biggest risks include falling behind in the adoption of technology and AI, as well as the variety of financial services that today's customers are looking for. Robinhood risks being so far ahead of the curve that it remains stuck in murky regulatory waters, which could prove costly for both the company and its investors. But if you have a long investing horizon and are willing to take on the risk, Robinhood could deliver stronger share price gains than Morningstar from here.

Investors should pay attention to Robinhood's revenue streams. Transaction-based revenue, its largest segment, increased 44% in Q2 2026, primarily driven by event contracts revenue, which increased more than tenfold. But cryptocurrency revenue declined 38%. Growth in revenue from interest-earning assets, Trump account services, and Robinhood Gold subscriptions could indicate more predictable and stable recurring revenue streams from here, which could mitigate some risk.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN – Get Free Report) and Bain Capital Specialty Finance (NYSE:BCSF – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, risk, institutional ownership, profitability, valuation, earnings and analyst recommendations.

Profitability This table compares Morningstar and Bain Capital Specialty Finance’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Morningstar 16.43% 38.57% 12.22% Bain Capital Specialty Finance 24.22% 10.40% 4.33% Earnings & Valuation This table compares Morningstar and Bain Capital Specialty Finance”s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Morningstar $2.45 billion 3.14 $374.20 million $10.56 19.36 Bain Capital Specialty Finance $78.39 million 8.79 $98.76 million $0.99 10.73 Morningstar has higher revenue and earnings than Bain Capital Specialty Finance. Bain Capital Specialty Finance is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Morningstar, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends Morningstar pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 1.0%. Bain Capital Specialty Finance pays an annual dividend of $1.68 per share and has a dividend yield of 15.8%. Morningstar pays out 18.9% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Bain Capital Specialty Finance pays out 169.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Morningstar has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years and Bain Capital Specialty Finance has increased its dividend for 4 consecutive years.

Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of recent ratings for Morningstar and Bain Capital Specialty Finance, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Morningstar 0 1 2 0 2.67 Bain Capital Specialty Finance 1 3 0 0 1.75 Morningstar currently has a consensus target price of $227.33, indicating a potential upside of 11.19%. Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a consensus target price of $12.60, indicating a potential upside of 18.64%. Given Bain Capital Specialty Finance’s higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Bain Capital Specialty Finance is more favorable than Morningstar.

Volatility & Risk Morningstar has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Bain Capital Specialty Finance has a beta of 0.6, indicating that its share price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Insider and Institutional Ownership 57.0% of Morningstar shares are owned by institutional investors. 38.8% of Morningstar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Bain Capital Specialty Finance shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary Morningstar beats Bain Capital Specialty Finance on 13 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Morningstar (Get Free Report)

Morningstar, Inc. provides independent investment insights in the United States, Asia. Australia, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics; PitchBook; Morningstar Wealth; Morningstar Credit; and Morningstar Retirement. The company offers managing investments, including mutual funds, ETFs, separate accounts, collective investment trusts, model portfolios, equities, and fixed income securities; Morningstar Direct is an investment-analysis and reporting platform; Morningstar Advisor Workstation, a suite of tool to provide help and advice. The PitchBook segment provides data and research covering the private capital markets comprising venture capital, private equity, private credit and bank loans, and merger and acquisition activities; and pitchbook platform. It provides model portfolios and wealth platforms; Morningstar Managed Portfolios, an advisor service with model portfolios designed for fee-based independent financial advisors; and Morningstar.com that discovers, evaluates, and monitors stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds; build and monitor portfolios and markets. In addition, the company provides credit ratings, research, data, and credit analytics solutions; Morningstar DBRS which offers securitizations and other structured finance instruments, such as asset-backed securities, residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and collateralized loan obligations. Further, it offers managed retirement accounts, fiduciary services, Morningstar Lifetime Allocation funds, and custom models; Morningstar Indexes offers market indexes used for performance benchmarks and as the basis for investment products and other portfolio strategies; and Morningstar Sustainalytics provides environmental, social and governance data, research, analysis, and insights. Morningstar, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

(Get Free Report)

Bain Capital Specialty Finance, Inc. is business development company specializing in direct loans to middle-market companies. The fund seeks to invest in senior investments with a first or second lien on collateral, senior first lien, stretch senior, senior second lien, unitranche, mezzanine debt, junior securities, other junior investments, and secondary purchases of assets or portfolios that primarily consist of middle-market corporate debt. It typically invests in companies with EBITDA between $10 million and $150 million.

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, /PRNewswire/ -- Wall Street Investor News Commentary - Four publicly listed retail investing platforms now report more than 41 million funded accounts between them, and two of them reported record quarters this summer. The pattern is the same across all of them: more people are managing their own money from a phone, and the platforms competing for them are adding research, data and AI tools alongside the trade button. Active Companies from around the markets include: Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD), Webull Corporation (NASDAQ: BULL), Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: FUTU), eToro Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ETOR), Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN).

Not every investor needs a brokerage to follow the market. A growing set of free tools sits one step before the trade, built for people who want to watch prices, understand why a stock moved and keep a watchlist without paying for a terminal. Those tools now compete on the same features the brokerages use to win accounts: live quotes, plain-language explanations and AI research.

Quote Daddy is one of them. It is a free stock-tracking app for the web, iPhone and Android with live watchlists for U.S. stocks and ETFs, interactive charts, insider activity from SEC Form 4 filings, alerts, and one-tap AI briefings that explain in plain English why a stock moved. It also tracks the latest SEC 13F holdings of well-known investors and congressional disclosed trades. Its research tool, Luxor IQ, turns live prices, a year of trend data, fundamentals, news and analyst ratings into a research note written by AI, with three free reports a day. There is no credit card and no paywall; accounts are free at quotedaddy.com.

Below are five listed platforms in the same space, the investor-facing apps and research services that millions of self-directed investors use, and what each reported in its latest quarter.

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In other industry developments and happenings in the market this week include:

Robinhood Markets, Inc. (NASDAQ: HOOD)

Robinhood reported record second quarter 2026 revenue of $1.31 billion, up 32% from a year earlier. Funded customers rose 7% to 28.4 million, total platform assets rose 32% to $369 billion, and Robinhood Gold subscribers grew 39% to 4.8 million. Net deposits were $21.7 billion for the quarter, and the company has scheduled its third quarter results for October 27.

Webull Corporation (NASDAQ: BULL)

Webull reported second quarter 2026 revenue of $198.8 million, up 51% year over year, and net income attributable to the company of $24.4 million, compared with a net loss a year earlier. Registered users rose 13% to 28.2 million, funded accounts rose 8% to 5.13 million, and customer assets climbed 79% to $28.5 billion.

"I'm proud to report a record second quarter for Webull," said CEO Anthony Denier, who credited the rollout of updated active-trader features after the elimination of the Pattern Day Trader rule on June 4.

Futu Holdings Limited (NASDAQ: FUTU)

Futu, the parent of the moomoo investing app, reported second quarter 2026 total revenues of US$918.2 million, up 35.6% year over year, and net income of US$464.4 million, up 41.6%. Funded accounts grew 33.6% to 3,842,667, registered users reached 31.3 million, and client assets rose 43.6% to HK$1.40 trillion.

"Malaysia led new funded account additions for the third consecutive quarter," said Leaf Hua Li, Chairman and CEO.

eToro Group Ltd. (NASDAQ: ETOR)

eToro, which combines trading with a social investing feed, reported second quarter 2026 net contribution of $229 million, up 9% year over year, and GAAP net income of $53 million, up 77%. Funded accounts rose 18% to 4.28 million and assets under administration grew 10% to $19.2 billion.

"We delivered another strong quarter as we continue executing against our long-term strategy," said Yoni Assia, Co-Founder and CEO.

Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN)

Morningstar, the investment research and data provider, reported second quarter 2026 revenue of $663.2 million, up 9.6%, and operating income of $160.6 million, up 28.4%. Revenue from its Morningstar Direct platform rose 6.2% to $222.1 million and PitchBook revenue rose 4.9% to $174.7 million.

"We are continuing to deliver profitable growth with meaningful increases in operating and free cash flows," said CEO Kunal Kapoor. Morningstar plans to report third quarter results on October 28.

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Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN – Get Free Report) and Robinhood Markets (NASDAQ:HOOD – Get Free Report) are both finance companies, but which is the better stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, dividends, valuation, analyst recommendations, earnings, profitability and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership 57.0% of Morningstar shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 93.3% of Robinhood Markets shares are owned by institutional investors. 38.8% of Morningstar shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 13.5% of Robinhood Markets shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Recommendations This is a summary of recent ratings for Morningstar and Robinhood Markets, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

Sell Ratings Hold Ratings Buy Ratings Strong Buy Ratings Rating Score Morningstar 0 1 2 0 2.67 Robinhood Markets 1 5 25 2 2.85 Morningstar currently has a consensus target price of $227.33, suggesting a potential upside of 11.19%. Robinhood Markets has a consensus target price of $129.68, suggesting a potential upside of 18.95%. Given Robinhood Markets’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Robinhood Markets is more favorable than Morningstar. Volatility & Risk Morningstar has a beta of 1.02, indicating that its stock price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Robinhood Markets has a beta of 2.35, indicating that its stock price is 135% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation & Earnings This table compares Morningstar and Robinhood Markets”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

Gross Revenue Price/Sales Ratio Net Income Earnings Per Share Price/Earnings Ratio Morningstar $2.45 billion 3.14 $374.20 million $10.56 19.36 Robinhood Markets $4.47 billion 21.91 $1.88 billion $2.27 48.03 Robinhood Markets has higher revenue and earnings than Morningstar. Morningstar is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Robinhood Markets, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Profitability This table compares Morningstar and Robinhood Markets’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

Net Margins Return on Equity Return on Assets Morningstar 16.43% 38.57% 12.22% Robinhood Markets 42.01% 22.43% 4.56% Summary Robinhood Markets beats Morningstar on 11 of the 15 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Morningstar (Get Free Report)

Morningstar, Inc. provides independent investment insights in the United States, Asia. Australia, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Morningstar Data and Analytics; PitchBook; Morningstar Wealth; Morningstar Credit; and Morningstar Retirement. The company offers managing investments, including mutual funds, ETFs, separate accounts, collective investment trusts, model portfolios, equities, and fixed income securities; Morningstar Direct is an investment-analysis and reporting platform; Morningstar Advisor Workstation, a suite of tool to provide help and advice. The PitchBook segment provides data and research covering the private capital markets comprising venture capital, private equity, private credit and bank loans, and merger and acquisition activities; and pitchbook platform. It provides model portfolios and wealth platforms; Morningstar Managed Portfolios, an advisor service with model portfolios designed for fee-based independent financial advisors; and Morningstar.com that discovers, evaluates, and monitors stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds; build and monitor portfolios and markets. In addition, the company provides credit ratings, research, data, and credit analytics solutions; Morningstar DBRS which offers securitizations and other structured finance instruments, such as asset-backed securities, residential mortgage-backed securities, commercial mortgage-backed securities, and collateralized loan obligations. Further, it offers managed retirement accounts, fiduciary services, Morningstar Lifetime Allocation funds, and custom models; Morningstar Indexes offers market indexes used for performance benchmarks and as the basis for investment products and other portfolio strategies; and Morningstar Sustainalytics provides environmental, social and governance data, research, analysis, and insights. Morningstar, Inc. was incorporated in 1984 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.

(Get Free Report)

Robinhood Markets, Inc. operates financial services platform in the United States. Its platform allows users to invest in stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), American depository receipts, options, gold, and cryptocurrencies. The company offers fractional trading, recurring investments, fully-paid securities lending, access to investing on margin, cash sweep, instant withdrawals, retirement program, around-the-clock trading, and initial public offerings participation services. It also provides various learning and education solutions comprise Snacks, an accessible digest of business news stories for a new generation of investors.; Learn, which is an online collection of beginners' guides, feature tutorials, and financial dictionary; Newsfeeds that offer access to free, premium news from sites from various sites, such as Barron's, Reuters, and Dow Jones. In addition, the company offers In-App Education, a resource that covers investing fundamentals, including why people invest, a stock market overview, and tips on how to define investing goals, as well as allows customers to understand the basics of investing before their first trade; and Crypto Learn and Earn, an educational module available to various crypto customers through Robinhood Learn to teach customers the basics related to cryptocurrency. Further, it provides Robinhood credit cards, cash card and spending accounts, and wallets. Robinhood Markets, Inc. was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Menlo Park, California.

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Active ETFs pulled in $60.1 billion in September, pushing their 2026 total to a record $576.2 billion.

Key Takeaways: Active ETF inflows hit a record $576.2 billion through September, even as stocks and bonds fell last month. Foreign stock strategies led traditional active equity flows in September, as investors looked beyond U.S. markets. Investors favored ultrashort bond funds and options-based income strategies, while rising rates pressured traditional bonds. That haul came during a month when rising rates pushed global stocks and bonds lower. State Street Investment Management, part of State Street Corp. (STT), tracked the flows in its latest monthly report.

U.S.-listed ETFs took in $151 billion in September, lifting 2026 inflows to $1.54 trillion, according to the report. That topped 2025’s full-year record of $1.52 trillion, with three months still left.

Active strategies account for nearly 40% of U.S.-listed ETF flows this year, while holding just 13% of industry assets, the report found. Over the past decade, mutual funds lost $3 trillion to outflows while ETFs drew $7.8 trillion.

“What was once viewed as an emerging segment has become one of the industry’s primary growth engines,” wrote Matthew Bartolini, the firm’s global head of research strategists.

That growth isn’t tied to a single market theme, Bartolini noted. Active funds span 123 categories tracked by Morningstar, Inc. (MORN). In September, 80% of those categories took in more money than they lost. For the year, that share climbs to 95%.

On the stock side, active funds gathered $33.7 billion in September and $338.1 billion this year, according to State Street data.

Foreign large-blend strategies led traditional active stock funds last month with $7.9 billion, Bartolini wrote.

The demand mirrors a wider push abroad. Non-U.S. stocks captured 36% of equity ETF flows in September, while making up just 17% of equity assets, the report showed.

Active Investors Seek Income and Protection With stock dividend yields at record lows, investors are also turning to active funds for income, Bartolini wrote. Derivative-income strategies took in $6.1 billion in September and $51.6 billion this year.

Defined-outcome funds added $1.6 billion in September. Bartolini wrote that the category has replaced low-volatility ETFs as investors’ go-to risk-management tool.

Bond-focused active ETFs, meanwhile, collected $21.8 billion in September and $176.3 billion this year, according to State Street.

Ultrashort bond funds led the group with $4.2 billion. That reflects a preference for limiting duration risk, Bartolini noted.

See more: T. Rowe Price Ultra Short-Term Bond ETF TBUX Up Almost $1 Billion YTD

Alternative active strategies also gained ground as traditional diversification tools struggled, Bartolini wrote. They drew $4.5 billion in September and a record $56 billion this year.

Since January 2021, global stocks and bonds have fallen together in 20 of the 23 months when stocks declined, according to State Street.

For more news, information, and strategy, visit the Active ETF Content Hub.

On October 06, 2026, Morningstar Inc MORN shares rose by 3.5% to a current price of $195.69, reflecting a notable recovery within its 52-week range of $141.49 to $228.95.

GF Value™ verdict: The stock is currently trading at $195.69, which is 47.9% below the GF Value™ estimate of $375.92. GF Score™ of 91/100 indicates a strong overall performance compared to peers. Notable signal: Insider activity shows a net selling of $73.0 million over the past 12 months. Is MORN Overvalued or Undervalued? Morningstar Inc's current share price of $195.69 is significantly undervalued according to the GF Value™, which estimates its fair value at $375.92. This presents a substantial margin of safety of 47.9%, indicating a potential opportunity for investors. The GF Value™ is GuruFocus' proprietary estimate of intrinsic value, derived from historical trading multiples, past business growth, and future performance estimates. Given that the stock is labeled as significantly undervalued, it is essential to consider the risk factors associated with this valuation.

While the undervaluation suggests an opportunity, the significant insider selling, totaling $73.2 million, raises caution regarding the company's future performance. Investors should weigh this insider activity against the attractive valuation to make informed decisions.

How Does MORN's Valuation Compare to Its History? Metric Current Historical P/E (TTM) 18.6x 57.3x Forward P/E 14.0x N/A The current P/E (TTM) ratio of 18.6x is significantly below its 5-year median of 57.3x, indicating that the stock is trading at a much lower valuation when compared to its historical norms. This analysis aligns with the GF Value™ verdict of Morningstar being undervalued, suggesting that the stock may be a bargain relative to its past performance.

What Does MORN's GF Score™ Tell Us? The GF Score™ assesses a company's financial strength, profitability, growth potential, valuation, and momentum. Morningstar Inc has a GF Score™ of 91/100, showcasing strong performance across various dimensions, particularly in profitability and growth. The strongest sub-rank is Growth at 10/10, indicating robust future potential, while the weakest is Valuation at 4/10, which suggests the stock is priced lower compared to its historical valuation metrics.

Metric Rating GF Score™ 91/100 Financial Strength 6/10 Profitability 9/10 Growth 10/10 Valuation 4/10 Momentum 8/10 Overall, the strong GF Score™ indicates that Morningstar Inc is performing well in profitability and growth, while the valuation score highlights a potential undervaluation issue. This disparity suggests that while the company's fundamentals are strong, the market has yet to fully recognize its value.

What Are Gurus and Insiders Doing with MORN? Currently, eight gurus hold shares of Morningstar Inc, with four adding to their positions and four trimming their stakes in recent quarters. This indicates a mixed sentiment among institutional investors, reflecting both confidence and caution regarding the stock's future performance.

In terms of insider activity, over the past year, insiders bought $0.2 million worth of shares but sold $73.2 million, resulting in a net selling of $73.0 million. This pattern of significant insider selling could suggest that insiders may not be as bullish on the company's future, which could lead to skepticism among potential investors. This insider activity serves as a critical consideration when evaluating the stock's potential trajectory.

What This Means for Investors Based on the GF Value™ analysis, Morningstar Inc appears to be undervalued at its current price of $195.69, with a substantial margin of safety of 47.9%. However, the significant insider selling presents a cautionary note that could impact the stock's future performance. Investors are encouraged to carefully assess these factors as they consider their strategies. For more detailed information, visit the Morningstar Inc MORN stock page for further insights.

Frequently Asked Questions What is MORN's GF Score™?

MORN's GF Score™ is 91/100, indicating a strong overall performance compared to its peers in various financial metrics.

Is MORN overvalued or undervalued?

MORN is currently undervalued, trading 47.9% below its GF Value™ estimate of $375.92.

What is MORN's P/E ratio?

MORN's P/E (TTM) ratio is 18.6x, which is significantly below its 5-year median P/E of 57.3x, indicating a lower valuation compared to its historical performance.

This stock alert was generated using automated technology and GuruFocus financial data to provide readers with timely and accurate market reporting. This content was reviewed by GuruFocus editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].

Disclosures I/We may personally own shares in some of the companies mentioned above. However, those positions are not material to either the company or to my/our portfolios.

Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investing insights, today released its annual Morningstar Investors Perspectives Advisor study, the third installment in the 2026 Morningstar Investor Perspectives series. Following research on retail investors and asset owners, the study provides new insight into how advisors are responding to AI adoption, rising client expectations, and market uncertainty. The findings reveal a growing paradox: advisors are embracing AI at pace, but many still feel they lack sufficient time to focus on clients.

“AI is helping advisors run faster, but the treadmill is speeding up too,” said Joe Agostinelli, senior director of market research at Morningstar. “More documentation, faster service expectations, and more client questions mean AI is absorbing complexity rather than simply freeing up time. Across this year’s Morningstar Investor Perspectives research, we keep seeing the same tension: investors have more information and more options, but not necessarily more confidence. Advisors are increasingly the people who sort signal from noise and help clients keep moving toward their goals.”

The share of surveyed advisors reporting no AI use fell from 33% in 2025 to 20% in 2026, while nearly half (48%) said the technology has significantly or moderately improved their day-to-day efficiency. Even so, more than half (56%) named too much administrative or operational work as a top barrier to delivering the service they want to provide.

The gap is easy to see: Advisors currently devote 53% of their workweek on client-focused work but would ideally spend 63%, a difference of about four hours in a 40-hour workweek. Nearly two-thirds (62%) want more client time, with those advisors looking for a 19% increase on average. Advisors see the clearest benefit in practical work, with 57% saying AI could improve the efficiency of client communications, such as summarizing notes and drafting follow-ups. Only 18% rated AI tools as highly reliable for investment recommendations or portfolio decisions. The message is not that AI replaces judgment, but that AI can give advisors more room to use it.

Private markets show how quickly complexity can fill the space

Private investments are one of the clearest examples of opportunity arriving with more work attached. Forty percent of advisors now offer private investments, up from 35% in 2025, and another 5% plan to offer them. At the same time, fees and fee transparency were the most-cited private-market due-diligence challenge at 46%, followed by limited liquidity at 41% and limited transparency into underlying holdings at 35%.

Confidence also softened. Only 25% of advisors who offer private investments said they were highly satisfied with manager transparency and reporting, down from 38% in 2025. Similarly, 61% noted they were highly comfortable explaining the private investments they offer, down from 68%. Demand does not appear to be going away. Among advisors who offer private investments, 46% expect client allocations to increase over the next 12 months, while 50% expect allocations to stay about the same.

Advisors want partners who reduce friction

The same pressure shapes what advisors want from asset managers. While investment performance remains the most frequently cited relationship value, its share fell 6 percentage points to 45% in 2026. Advisors also pointed to the day-to-day behaviors that make a partner easier to work with: an accessible wholesaler or support team at 37%, consistent follow-through at 29%, clear communication at 27%, and an understanding of the practice’s needs and structure at 26%.

The focus groups made the difference plain: Advisors value partners who know their holdings, flag relevant risks, offer credible pushback, and respond when markets move. Generic pitches, products that are not available on the advisor platform, and frequent wholesaler turnover create more work.

About the Morningstar Investor Perspectives Series

The 2026 Morningstar Investor Perspectives series connects research across retail investors, asset owners, asset managers, and financial advisors. Looking at those audiences together gives Morningstar a wider view of how information, technology, investment choice, and market uncertainty can shape decisions across the investing ecosystem. The studies draw on Morningstar’s breadth of data and research to help show where the experiences of investors and the professionals who serve them line up, and where important gaps remain.

Methodology: The 2026 Morningstar Investor Perspectives Advisors study is based on 501 online responses collected across the United States from July 21 through Aug. 16, 2026. The respondent profile included financial advisors, financial planners, investment advisors, wealth managers, wealth advisors, private wealth advisors, and retirement advisors across regional and independent broker-dealers, RIA firms, insurance broker-dealers or independent agencies, wirehouses, and financial institutions.

About Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $375 billion in AUMA as of June 30, 2026. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on X @MorningstarInc.

©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

MORN-C

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20261005198375/en/

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced plans to relocate its global headquarters to the Thompson Center and commit an additional $5 million in funding over five years to Chicago nonprofits. Together, the investments reinforce Morningstar's over 40-year commitment to Chicago and help support the city's economic vitality, workforce development, and long-term growth.Kunal Kapoor, CEO of Morningstar, said: "M.

Corient Private Wealth LP trimmed its stake in Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN – Free Report) by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,796 shares of the business services provider’s stock after selling 8,334 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LP’s holdings in Morningstar were worth $1,684,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in Morningstar by 151.7% in the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 219 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in shares of Morningstar by 8.0% during the first quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,840 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $311,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Morningstar by 15.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,007 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Morningstar in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Morningstar by 2.7% in the 2nd quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 6,031 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes MORN has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price target on Morningstar in a research note on Thursday, June 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Morningstar from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.33.

Get Our Latest Analysis on MORN Insider Buying and Selling In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph Mansueto sold 7,906 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $210.26, for a total transaction of $1,662,315.56. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 7,960,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,789,448.20. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 86,500 shares of company stock worth $17,824,451 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Morningstar Trading Down 2.0% Shares of Morningstar stock opened at $196.41 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $199.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $182.59. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.60 and a beta of 1.00. Morningstar, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $141.49 and a fifty-two week high of $238.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.06.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.83 by $0.27. The business had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $649.72 million. Morningstar had a net margin of 16.43% and a return on equity of 38.57%.

Morningstar Company Profile (Free Report)

Morningstar, Inc is a global provider of independent investment research, data, and financial information. The company serves individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, institutions, and retirement plan providers with tools designed to support investment analysis, portfolio construction, and financial decision-making.

Its offerings include investment research and ratings, market and portfolio data, indexes, software platforms, and retirement planning solutions. Key products include Morningstar Direct for institutional research and analysis and Advisor Workstation for financial professionals.

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CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, announced the completion of the third quarter reconstitution for the Morningstar Market Indexes. Conducted quarterly to reflect changes across the U.S. equity market, the reconstitution helps ensure the indexes continue to serve as robust, representative, and investable benchmarks for investors. Built on CRSP's long-established methodology, research foundation, and academic heritag.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today published its fifth annual Asset Owner Perspectives Survey. Lindsey Stewart, director of institutional insights at Morningstar, said: “Asset owners are navigating a market increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. They are weighing innovation opportunities against higher valuations, sector and geographic concentration, environmental and social impacts, and governance co.

[url="]Morningstar, Inc.[/url] (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investing insights, today launched Game On, a U.S. brand campaign about a compl

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PitchBook, the leading private capital market intelligence platform and a business unit of Morningstar (NASDAQ: MORN), today announced it is now a data partner for ChatGPT for Financial Services. ChatGPT for Financial Services is a tailored ChatGPT experience that combines built-in financial data with GPT-6 Astra's reasoning to help teams develop research, financial models, and client materials in their firm's formats. Through PitchBook's expanded Essential dataset, te.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investing insights, today announced that its AI Academy has received three Brandon Hall Group™ HCM Excellence Awards®: a Gold Award for Best Custom Content and Silver Awards for Best Learning Strategy and Best Use of AI for Learning. The Brandon Hall Group™ HCM Excellence Awards® recognize organizations that successfully develop and deploy programs, strategies, technologies, and solutions that deliver.

Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, and PitchBook, a Morningstar company and a leading private capital markets intelligence platform, today announced upcoming Model Context Protocol (MCP) integrations with Google Cloud’s Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services. Together, Morningstar and PitchBook provide a comprehensive view across public and private markets, helping investors securely access intelligence spanning investment research, fund analysis, company data, transactions, and private capital activity directly within Gemini Enterprise.

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The MCP integrations coincide with Morningstar and PitchBook joining Google Cloud as launch partners for the preview of Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services, part of a series of industry offerings spotlighting AI-powered solutions across verticals. The integrations are expected to be available imminently.

When evaluating investment opportunities, conducting due diligence, monitoring portfolios, researching managers, or analyzing private market activity, professionals increasingly expect trusted intelligence to be available directly within their AI workflows. Through these integrations Morningstar and PitchBook will serve as trusted grounding sources within Gemini Enterprise, helping users access source-attributed investment intelligence while maintaining visibility into the data, research, and analysis behind AI-generated responses.

Learn more about Morningstar’s AI Solutions and PitchBook’s AI capabilities and partnerships.

At a Glance

Who: Morningstar, PitchBook, Google Cloud

What: MCP integrations with Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services

Where: Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services

Content Types: Investment data, investment research, market intelligence, private market intelligence

Why: To bring trusted, source-attributed investment intelligence into AI-powered workflows

Primary Benefit: Trusted, source-attributed answers

Intended Users: Investors and financial professionals

Availability: Upcoming; expected to be available imminently

Key Differentiator: Grounding in trusted Morningstar and PitchBook content

What Is Being Announced?

Morningstar and PitchBook are weaving investment intelligence within Google Gemini so eligible subscribers can access trusted information directly within AI-powered workflows. Morningstar provides independent data, research, ratings, and intelligence across public and private markets, helping investors make confident decisions. PitchBook, a Morningstar company, delivers comprehensive private capital markets data and research powered by its AI + HI (Artificial Intelligence + Human Insight) methodology, which combines advanced technology with human oversight to source, structure, and validate information at scale. Together, the integrations can help professionals move from questions to analysis more efficiently while maintaining transparency in the sources behind AI-generated answers.

What Users Can Do with Morningstar and PitchBook in Gemini

Eligible subscribers will be able to:

Access Morningstar public market investment data, research, analysis, and intelligence directly within Gemini EnterpriseDraw upon PitchBook's private market intelligence on companies, investors, funds, transactions, and market activityGenerate source-attributed research and analysis grounded in Morningstar and PitchBook contentAsk targeted questions about investments, markets, companies, and private capital activityIncorporate trusted investment intelligence into AI-powered workflows and agentic experiencesConduct research without switching between multiple applicationsQuotes

Seth Sprinkle, global head of AI platforms strategy and partnerships for Morningstar, said:

"Artificial intelligence is transforming how investors and financial professionals discover, evaluate, and act on information. But the value of AI depends on the quality of the information behind it. By bringing independent research and investment intelligence from Morningstar and PitchBook into Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services, we want to help investors access our insights more efficiently, while preserving transparency in the sources behind those answers."

Tom Van Buskirk, executive vice president of Technology and Engineering at PitchBook, said:

"The quality of the data grounding AI has never mattered more. We believe our AI + HI methodology, combining advanced AI with human insight, makes PitchBook a trusted grounding source for enterprise AI. Working with Google to bring that intelligence into Gemini Enterprise lets users ask harder questions and receive answers backed by intelligence from Morningstar and PitchBook."

Satish Thomas, Vice President, Google Cloud, said:

"To deliver real business impact from agentic AI, organizations need seamless access to trusted, domain-specific data. By integrating Morningstar and PitchBook into Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services, we are enabling financial professionals to accelerate investment research and make decisions with confidence."

Why This Matters

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming part of the investment research process, yet AI systems are only as useful as the information they can access.

For investors and financial professionals, that can create a growing need for:

Verifiable investment data and informationIndependent research and analysisSource attribution and transparencySeamless integration into daily workflowsThese Morningstar and PitchBook integrations aim to help address those needs by providing independent investment intelligence and proprietary public and private market data directly into Gemini.

Expanding Access to Trusted Intelligence Across AI Ecosystems

This announcement builds on broader efforts across Morningstar and PitchBook to make trusted investment intelligence available across leading AI platforms. The Gemini Enterprise integrations extend access to Morningstar and PitchBook connectors for public and private investment data, research, and market intelligence within one of the industry's leading enterprise AI ecosystems. The launch reinforces its strategy to pair proprietary data and human judgment with the AI platforms increasingly used by investors, dealmakers, and financial professionals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is being announced?

Morningstar and PitchBook are launching integrations with Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services that will allow eligible subscribers to access public and private market data and investing intelligence directly within Gemini Enterprise.

What is Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services?

Gemini Enterprise for Financial Services is a solution designed to support financial services workflows.

What Morningstar content will be available in Gemini?

Eligible subscribers can access Morningstar investment data, research, ratings, and market insights within Gemini.

What PitchBook content will be available in Gemini?

Eligible subscribers can access PitchBook private market intelligence, including information about companies, investors, funds, deals, and market activity.

Why is source attribution important?

Source attribution can help users understand where information originates, helping to support greater transparency and confidence in AI-assisted research.

Who can use the integrations?

The integrations will be available for use by eligible Morningstar and PitchBook subscribers. This includes subscriptions for software products that provide individual MCP integration access, as well as enterprise licensing for clients for MCP use.

When will the integrations be available?

The integrations are expected to become available imminently.

Why does this matter for investors and financial professionals?

The integrations are designed to help bring investment intelligence directly into AI workflows, and make it easier to access information, conduct research, and make informed decisions.

About Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $375 billion in AUMA as of June 30, 2026. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on X @MorningstarInc.

About PitchBook, a Morningstar company

As the pulse of private capital markets, PitchBook delivers trusted, real-time data, research, and technology to help investors, dealmakers, and innovators make decisions with confidence. Its products provide comprehensive information on companies, investors, funds, deals, and people, along with tools that help professionals analyze market activity and make informed decisions. Founded in 2007, PitchBook today serves more than 100,000 clients worldwide and is recognized as the leading source of private capital market intelligence. PitchBook has grown to over 3,000 employees across offices in Seattle, San Francisco, New York, London, Singapore, Mumbai, and other global locations.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as “aim,” “designed to,” “will,” "future," "goal," "expect," "intend," "plan," "seek," "anticipate," "believe," "prospects," "continue," "strategy," "strive," "would," or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among others, risks relating to future plans, innovation, growth, capabilities, product enhancements, strategies and vision.

A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties, among others, can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our most recent Report on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our future filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K.

©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

MORN-P

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Launched on June 28, 2004, the iShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF (ISCG - Free Report) is a passively managed exchange traded fund designed to provide a broad exposure to the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

The fund is sponsored by Blackrock. It has amassed assets over $1.01 billion, making it one of the average sized ETFs attempting to match the Small Cap Growth segment of the US equity market.

Why Small Cap GrowthSitting at a market capitalization below $2 billion, small cap companies tend to be high-potential stocks compared to its large and mid cap counterparts, but come with higher risk.

While growth stocks do boast higher than average sales and earnings growth rates, and they are expected to grow faster than the wider market, investors should note these kinds of stocks have higher valuations. Something to keep in mind is the higher level of volatility that is affiliated with growth stocks. They are likely to outperform value stocks in strong bull markets but over the longer-term, value stocks have delivered better returns than growth stocks in almost all markets.

CostsExpense ratios are an important factor in the return of an ETF and in the long term, cheaper funds can significantly outperform their more expensive counterparts, other things remaining the same.

Annual operating expenses for this ETF are 0.06%, making it one of the least expensive products in the space.

It has a 12-month trailing dividend yield of 0.57%.

Sector Exposure and Top HoldingsEven though ETFs offer diversified exposure which minimizes single stock risk, it is still important to look into a fund's holdings before investing. Luckily, most ETFs are very transparent products that disclose their holdings on a daily basis.

This ETF has heaviest allocation to the Industrials sector -- about 23.7% of the portfolio. Information Technology and Healthcare round out the top three.

Looking at individual holdings, Okta Inc Class A (OKTA) accounts for about 0.74% of total assets, followed by Sterling Infrastructure Inc (STRL) and Guardant Health Inc (GH).

The top 10 holdings account for about 5.54% of total assets under management.

Performance and RiskISCG seeks to match the performance of the MORNINGSTAR US SML CP BRD GRWTH EXTD ID before fees and expenses. The Morningstar US Small Cap Broad Growth Extended Index comprises of small-capitalization U.S. equities that exhibit growth characteristics.

The ETF has added about 17.72% so far this year and was up about 27.21% in the last one year (as of 08/24/2026). In the past 52-week period, it has traded between $51.70 and $66.36.

The ETF has a beta of 1.12 and standard deviation of 20.18% for the trailing three-year period. With about 937 holdings, it effectively diversifies company-specific risk.

AlternativesiShares Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF holds a Zacks ETF Rank of 2 (Buy), which is based on expected asset class return, expense ratio, and momentum, among other factors. Because of this, ISCG is an excellent option for investors seeking exposure to the Style Box - Small Cap Growth segment of the market. There are other additional ETFs in the space that investors could consider as well.

The iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF (IWO) and the Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF (VBK) track a similar index. While iShares Russell 2000 Growth ETF has $14.85 billion in assets, Vanguard Morningstar Small-Cap Growth ETF has $24.47 billion. IWO has an expense ratio of 0.24% and VBK charges 0.05%.

Bottom-LineAn increasingly popular option among retail and institutional investors, passively managed ETFs offer low costs, transparency, flexibility, and tax efficiency; they are also excellent vehicles for long term investors.

To learn more about this product and other ETFs, screen for products that match your investment objectives and read articles on latest developments in the ETF investing universe, please visit Zacks ETF Center.

Aurora Investment Counsel acquired a new position in shares of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ:MORN – Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 9,515 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,485,000.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MORN. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Morningstar during the second quarter valued at $29,000. Measured Wealth Private Client Group LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Morningstar in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Grove Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Morningstar in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in Morningstar by 23.6% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 178 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. 57.02% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling In other Morningstar news, Chairman Joseph D. Mansueto sold 7,906 shares of Morningstar stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $210.26, for a total value of $1,662,315.56. Following the transaction, the chairman directly owned 7,960,570 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,673,789,448.20. The trade was a 0.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 72,466 shares of company stock valued at $14,672,238. Insiders own 38.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Morningstar from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, June 21st. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $210.00 price objective on Morningstar in a report on Thursday, June 18th. Weiss Ratings raised Morningstar from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. UBS Group lowered their target price on Morningstar from $280.00 to $260.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $212.00 target price on shares of Morningstar in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Morningstar presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $227.33. View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Morningstar

Morningstar Stock Up 2.4% MORN stock opened at $213.65 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.66, a current ratio of 1.06 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Morningstar, Inc. has a 52-week low of $141.49 and a 52-week high of $266.05. The company has a 50-day moving average of $177.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $176.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.23 and a beta of 0.99.

Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The business services provider reported $3.10 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.83 by $0.27. Morningstar had a return on equity of 38.57% and a net margin of 16.43%.The business had revenue of $663.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $649.72 million.

Morningstar Profile (Free Report)

Morningstar, Inc is a leading provider of independent investment research, data, and analytics, serving both individual investors and financial professionals. The company offers comprehensive coverage of financial products, including mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), stocks, bonds and market indexes. Morningstar’s proprietary rating systems and research methodologies help clients assess the risk and return profiles of investment opportunities and make informed decisions.

Its core products include Morningstar Direct, an institutional investment analysis platform; Morningstar Office Cloud, a portfolio management solution for advisors; and Morningstar Data, which delivers extensive datasets through APIs and data feeds.

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Morningstar (MORN) is a global financial services firm with a 15-year dividend growth streak, strong cash flow, and a conservative payout ratio. MORN delivered solid Q2 2026 results, beating revenue and EPS estimates, with 9.6% revenue growth and 29.2% non-GAAP EPS growth year-over-year. The stock trades at ~15.6x 2026E EPS, well below its historical 35–40x range, and is currently viewed as undervalued with a fair value estimate of $246.40.

A $1.2 million retirement and a $4 million retirement do not look nearly as different as the balances suggest. Across the Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM | JPM Price Prediction)’s 2026 Guide to Retirement, and Boldin’s planning data, households with seven-figure net worth cluster in the same annual spending band whether their portfolio sits near $1 million or well past $3 million.

The convergence figure is $70,000 to $120,000 a year in retirement spending for $1 million-plus households. That range holds across three very different measurement approaches: the Fed’s household balance-sheet survey, JPMorgan’s actuarial spending analysis, and Boldin’s user-level planning platform. Context matters here. Roughly three out of four $1 million-plus households sit between $1 million and $3 million in net worth. Millionaire retirees, as a group, are mostly ordinary savers, with net worth well below the $10 million-plus ultra-wealthy tier.

Why Spending Refuses to Scale Core costs stay roughly fixed. Housing, food, and healthcare cost about the same whether your portfolio is $1.5 million or $4 million. Time and energy run out before money does, and wealthier retirees typically change how they spend (better quality, more health-focused choices) before they change how much.

Consider the hypothetical couple Boldin uses to illustrate the pattern. Grant and Priya retire at 67 and 65 with $1.5 million invested and a combined $45,000 in Social Security. They arrive at about $105,000 a year in spending without ever targeting that figure. The arithmetic underneath is straightforward. Married couples in this wealth tier often collect a combined $40,000 to $70,000 in Social Security, well above the roughly $25,000 an average single retired worker collects. A $1.5 million portfolio at a 4% withdrawal rate produces about $60,000 a year, which combined with Social Security lands many households at $100,000 to $110,000 annually before any deliberate lifestyle decisions. The 2.8% Social Security COLA for 2026 reinforces that benefit as an inflation-adjusted floor.

Boldin’s User Data Confirms the Ceiling Inside Boldin’s platform, users with $1 million-plus investable assets who built a recurring income stream show a strikingly flat curve. Median non-Social Security retirement income runs $36,000 a year for the $1M to $3M tier, $40,600 for $3M to $5M, and $51,600 for $5M-plus. Layering typical Social Security onto the largest band produces a combined $76,000 to $106,000 a year. Boldin’s Monte Carlo Chance of Success median across all three tiers is 99%, with averages of 91% to 94%. The caveat is real: only about 50% to 54% of $1M-plus users have built a recurring income stream into a baseline plan, which likely skews the sample toward better-prepared planners.

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The Spending Smile The pattern is reinforced by the retirement spending smile popularized by David Blanchett at Morningstar (NASDAQ:MORN). Real, inflation-adjusted spending tends to decline through a retiree’s 60s and 70s, with a possible late uptick tied to healthcare. A 2026 Financial Planning Review study found mixed results on whether that late uptick holds once major late-life medical events are excluded. The practical takeaway: households starting at $110,000 to $120,000 a year rarely sustain that pace for two decades. It is usually a year-two-or-three snapshot rather than a permanent baseline.

Where the Pattern Breaks Early retirees on bridge years, before Social Security kicks in, lean entirely on portfolio withdrawals and often spend more temporarily. High-cost-of-living metros start higher. Some retirees deliberately target $150,000, $250,000, or more. And the 2026 EBRI Retirement Confidence Survey found about two in five retirees reporting costs higher than expected, driven mostly by healthcare.

Tax mechanics matter too. Crossing the first IRMAA threshold near Medicare age adds roughly $80 a month to Part B premiums for a full year, based on income from two years earlier. The 2026 standard Part B premium is $202.90, rising to $284.10 at the first IRMAA tier. ACA subsidies phase out at $84,600 for a two-person household in 2026 before Medicare eligibility applies. These cliffs push households to manage taxable income, which quietly compresses spending toward the same cluster.

The takeaway is population-level. If your plan calls for $180,000 a year, model your own numbers. But the data across three independent sources says most millionaire retirees, whether they hold $1.2 million or $4 million, end up spending in roughly the same lane.

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Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today announced the completion of the rebrand of the CRSP Market Indexes to the Morningstar Market Indexes, marking an important milestone in the company's strategy to expand its global indexes business to help better serve global investors. "We are excited to bring the highly respected CRSP Market Indexes, now with the added power of the Morningstar brand, to investors worldwide,".