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January 01, 2008 at 02:00 AM
| Morningstar | Steele Systems | fi360 | Klein | |
| Area | Principia | Mutual Fund Expert | fi360 Tools | Fund Selection Tool |
| Customer Service | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Price (Annual unless otherwise stated) |
MF Basic $550 MF Advanced $770 Stock Basic $550 Stocks Advanced $770 |
Personal $22 (monthly) Professional $52 (monthly) Pro Plus $62 (monthly) |
Silver $675 Gold $975 Platinum $1,375 (Can be paid monthly) |
Single Site License $1,495 Corp License $8,000 |
| Data Source | Morningstar | Basic data provided by Morningstar, plus in-house calculations | Morningstar | Morningstar Fi360 Klein |
| Data Update Frequency | Monthly or Quarterly | Monthly or Quarterly | Quarterly | MS & Klein monthly Fi360 quarterly |
| Number of Users | 49,303 | “Several thousand” | 1,250-1,500 | 100 licenses |
| Strengths | Comprehensive research data on over 24,000 mutual funds including ETFs and Indexes with analysis and investment detail reports. | Ability to customize reports & graphs. Can combine chosen graphs into report. Easy to compare & track portfolios. Historical data back to 1962. |
Excellent tools supporting fiduciary practices. | Ability to create a weighted factor model instead of a screening tool. About 200 factors to select. |
| Weaknesses | Limited trailing years | No stock database (planned for Q1 2008) |
No integration with CRM software. Does not allow for automatic input of client data. |
No ability to create portfolios of mutual funds (by design). |
| Fund Search Capability | Uses a screening process. | Uses a screening process. | Searchable by ticker for up to 100 funds at a time. | Uses a screening process. |
| No. of data points in search | 255+ | 700+ | 21; As of 01/08, 31 | 200+/- |
| Portfolio Creation Capabilities | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Uniqueness | Mutual fund module’s advanced mode provides in-depth historical research data and more than 1,500 analyst reports, plus fund-to-fund comparison reports. | Can choose information from over 30 template reports and create customized, personalized reports. | Fiduciary tools: 90% of fi360′s clients work as or with a fiduciary. Fiduciary scorecard. | Allows user to create a weighted factor model. |
| Intuitive Input | Good | Good | Good | Good |
| Clarity of Output | Very Good | Very Good | Very Good | Very Good |
| Help Menu | Good | Good | Good | Basic |
| Exporting data | Yes; limited to Excel | Yes-Unlimited to Excel | Yes-to Excel | Yes-to Excel |
| Investment vehicles covered | Mutual funds, stocks, ETFs, VAs, closed-end funds, separate accounts | Mutual funds, VAs | Mutual funds, ETFs, separate accounts, VAs (01/08)) | Mutual funds, ETFs |
| Platform | Desktop | Desktop | Web | Web |
| Phone Number | 800-735-0700 | 310-281-5533 | 866-390-5080 | 919-233-6767 |
| Location | Chicago | Los Angeles | Pittsburgh | Raleigh, NC |
| Employees | 1,680 | NA | 13 | 7 |
| Year Formed | 1984 | 1988 | 2000 | 2001 |
| Website | corporate.morningstar.com | www.mutualfundexpert.com | www.fi360.com | www.kleindecisions.com |
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