Company Press Release

CHICAGO, Aug. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced it has added two new categories and one broad asset class to its proprietary classification system for mutual fund portfolios domiciled in the United States.

The new mutual fund categories are:

-- Global Real Estate: These funds invest primarily in non-U.S. real estate securities, but may also include U.S. real estate securities. Such securities include debt and equity securities, convertible securities, and securities issued by Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). At least 40 percent of the fund's holdings must be non-U.S. securities. As of June 30, 2008, there were 45 mutual funds and eleven exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in this category.

-- Currency: These funds invest in U.S. and foreign currencies through the use of short-term money market instruments; derivative instruments, including but not limited to, forward currency contracts, index swaps and options; and cash deposits. Morningstar(TM) Ratings are not assigned to the funds in this category because their strategies vary so widely. As of June 30, 2008, there were eight mutual funds and 26 ETFs in this category.

Morningstar is also adding an "Alternative" broad asset class to its current set of five broad asset classes: U.S. Stock, International Stock, Taxable Bond, Municipal Bond, and Balanced. The Alternative broad asset class includes the following categories: Currency, Long-Short, Precious Metals, and Bear Market. The new Global Real Estate category is assigned to the International Stock asset class. Broad asset classes are used to help investors narrow a search for funds.

"We've made these adjustments so investors can more properly identify and evaluate real estate and currency funds. Funds that are now a part of the Global Real Estate category were formerly included in the Specialty-Real Estate category under the U.S. Stock asset class," said John Rekenthaler, vice president of research for Morningstar.

Rekenthaler added, "The number of currency funds is growing rapidly, especially among exchange-traded funds, and will be better compared to their peers in this new category. The addition of an 'Alternative' asset class is a more appropriate classification for currency funds, as well as long-short, precious metals, and bear market funds."

Morningstar also eliminated the Muni Florida category in the Municipal Bond asset class because many of the funds in this category have been liquidated or merged with other funds. The remaining funds in that category will be included in one of the Muni Single State categories (Long, Intermediate, or Short). The funds' new assignment will be based on a three- year average of duration and maturity statistics.

As a result of the new categories, the Morningstar(TM) Rating for funds that are assigned to a different category may change because they will now be rated against a new peer group.

The new category assignments will be available in Morningstar's Internet- based products today, and will be rolled out in all Morningstar products by the end of August. The Morningstar Category(TM) Classifications methodology is available at http://corporate.morningstar.com/CategoryClassifications.

The Morningstar Category classifications were introduced in 1996 to classify funds based on how they actually invest. Rather than assign a category to a fund based on the objective stated in its prospectus, Morningstar analyzes the fund's underlying holdings. Funds are placed in a given category based on their average portfolio statistics during the past three years.

About Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of Internet, software, and print-based products and services for individuals, financial advisors, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on more than 280,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles. The company has operations in 18 countries and minority ownership positions in companies based in three other countries.