Morningstar founder, chairman, and CEO Joe Mansueto kicked off the 2009 Morningstar Investment Conference by noting the great challenges of the past year for all investors, but then ticked off several Morningstar-specific achievements since the last gathering. The first was the firm's acquisition of Financial Computer Support Inc. (FCSI), the maker of dbCAMS portfolio management software, which Morningstar has since incorporated into its Principia software suite. Mansueto then mentioned the ongoing development of Morningstar Advisor Workstation 2.0, expected by year's end, with rollout to customers in 2010, and said the company also plans to launch an "enterprise portfolio management and reporting system to a major broker/dealer."
Mansueto then introduced keynote speaker Chris C. Davis, scion of the Davis investment family who, with Ken Feinberg, manages the Davis Large Cap Value portfolios. Mansueto noted Davis's background as an Episcopalian seminarian, then quoted him as saying that studying philosophy and theology was the perfect background for investing: "You need an investing philosophy, then you need to pray like hell!"
Take Responsibility, Avoid Forecasting
Davis began his prepared remarks by noting the "enormous sense of responsibility" that mutual fund managers have toward their clients, then addressed the question everyone asks: Have we made a bottom? While he eschewed forecasting–quoting John Kenneth Galbraith, who said "the only function of economic forecasting is to make astrology look respectable"–Davis showed research indicating that analysts' forecasts on earnings lag actual earnings, and reminded listeners that "the market will make its bottom and turn before there is evidence that the economy has turned." Moreover, "sentiment," he said "will lag the economy."
