Morningstar ETFInvestor

Recommendations for Commonsense ETF Investing
Research and experience have long shown us that the key to reliable investment growth is to hold a low-cost, diversified portfolio spread across stocks, bonds, and commodities. ETFs are the perfect vehicle for sticking with this proven strategy.

Morningstar ETFInvestor provides a wealth of information for anyone using ETFs. With ETFInvestor you get access to our two model portfolios: the Hands Free and the Hands On. The Hands Free provides a solid core portfolio for passive investors, while the Hands On is an idea source for more active ETF traders. In addition to our portfolios we provide commentary and data on the ETF industry, portfolio theory topics, sector investing, and fund analysis.

Play Video » Do Exotic Derivative ETFs Need to Comply Further?

What You'll Get Performance About the Editor

Monthly Issues
Every issue contains Scott Burns' analysis of ETFInvestor's two model portfolios, commentary and research on the investment issues of the day, and performance updates on the ETFInvestor 350 watch list. He'll also draw on Morningstar's staff of more than 25 mutual fund analysts and 100 equity analysts to provide detailed analysis of individual exchange-traded funds and market segments.

Our Strategy in Action
You'll get a compilation of our favorite ETFs based on two investment styles. Our Hands-Free Portfolio uses the latest tools in asset allocation to create a broad, diversified basket of funds spanning equities, fixed-income, commodities, and real estate. Through this diversification, we seek to increase the long-term risk/reward potential for investors seeking a passive investment strategy. The portfolio is designed to be a model for long-term investors looking to keep trading costs and expenses low. The Hands-On Portfolio is designed for tactical and active investing using ETFs.

Although we benchmark ourselves against the S&P 500 Index, we seek investing opportunities across all the asset classes in the ETF spectrum. We look for upside potential in our investments and prefer funds with identifiable catalysts that are fundamentally mispriced. We rely heavily on macro or top-down analysis to make our buy and sell decisions and we complement that with our unique access to fundamental or bottoms-up research from Morningstar's equity research team.
Click here to see our track record »

Free Investing Booklet
Scott's 20-page investing booklet walks you through the features of Morningstar ETFInvestor and describes the most important tenets of our investment philosophy. He also provides an in-depth look at what ETFs are, how Morningstar rates them, and how they compare with other investment vehicles.

ETFInvestor Online
Keep informed on breaking news and intra-issue commentary via our ETFInvestor companion Web site. You can track performance of our two model portfolios, get data on the 350 U.S. ETFs in our coverage universe, including a listing of each stock fund's top 25 holdings, read intra-issue editorial, and download the latest 12 issues of Morningstar ETFInvestor.

E-mail Alerts
Whenever Scott makes a change to the portfolios you will receive an e-mail alert with complete transaction details. Scott will also e-mail you with his opinions about events and/or changes related to the companies on his watch list, as well as his thoughts on the market.

Download a Free Issue
Get a sneak peek of Morningstar ETFInvestor.
Click here to download a recent issue »

The Morningstar Guarantee If you are unhappy with our newsletter for any reason, cancel within 30 days of the start date by calling toll free, 1-866-910-1145 for a full refund. After that, you may cancel at any time, and we will refund the remaining months left on your subscription. Your satisfaction is our priority.

What You'll Get Performance About the Editor

What is the Hands-Free Portfolio?
This portfolio aims to cover all the equity bases but still outperform the broad market, as measured by the Russell 3000 Index over a three- to five-year period, by overweighting undervalued and unloved areas of the market. Turnover here will generally be modest. In order to minimize the need for rebalancing, it's composed primarily of broadly diversified ETFs.

What is the Hands-On Portfolio?
This portfolio is compiled entirely from the bottom up, based on our analysis of an ETF's valuation characteristics. It favors ETFs that hold a large portion of stocks trading below their fair value estimates, as determined by Morningstar equity analysts. The portfolio will frequently sport large style and sector biases, so periods of volatility are to be expected. This portfolio will experience more trading than the Hands-Free Portfolio.

What You'll Get Performance About the Editor

Scott Burns, Director Exchange-Traded Securities Analysis, Editor, Morningstar ETFInvestor

Scott Burns is the director of ETF analysis for Morningstar and editor of Morningstar ETFInvestor. Prior to joining the ETF team, Burns was an associate director for the equity research staff, where he was in charge of training and methodology development. In his time on the equity research team, Burns also served as a senior equity analyst and team leader, covering the steel and aluminum industries. Before joining Morningstar in April 2004, he spent a year teaching corporate finance and cash-flow modeling for Bank One. Prior to that, Burns spent four years as an analyst and later as an associate with the Banc of America Securities Leveraged Finance group.

Burns holds a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.