Morningstar, which made its name with easy-to-used fund reports, has quietly rolled out a new service which enables advisors to streamline their portfolio allocation to mutual funds.

The new service, called Gold Planner, is based on the ClearFuture advice product that the firm developed for the 401(k) plan retirement market. The advisor tool allows the creation of client portfolios built using the engine developed by Morningstar and directs specific allocations to mutual funds.

Gold Planner was added to the Advisor Workstation product about two months ago. So far, there are advisors tinkering with the product, but it has not yet been widely adopted, said John Rekenthaler, president of Morningstar's online advisory service.

The firm hired Geoff Balzano, who had most recently been at CoolSavings, to oversee the product.

If it is widely adopted, the service may have the power to direct assets to funds performing well in its models.

For advisors, the tool promises to streamline their portfolio allocation process for clients and allow them to focus on the sales, marketing and client relationship side of their business.

The service allows advisors to download date from both Schwab's Centerpiece and Advent's advisor software.  

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