Morningstar Introduces AI Assistant Built into the Advisor Workflow

Key Terms

ai assistant technical

An AI assistant is a computer program that uses artificial intelligence to read, summarize, analyze data, and carry out routine tasks — like a virtual research aide that can draft reports, flag important changes, or run numbers automatically. For investors it matters because it can speed decisions, lower costs and scale monitoring across many companies, but it also introduces risks around accuracy, bias and data security.

model context protocol (mcp) technical

The Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a system that helps financial models understand and share information about market conditions and data. It’s like a common language that ensures different tools and models work together smoothly, making predictions and decisions more accurate and consistent.

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Form 4 is a official document that company insiders, such as executives or major shareholders, file with regulators whenever they buy or sell company shares. It provides transparency about how those with inside knowledge are trading, helping investors see if insiders are confident in the company's prospects or may be selling for personal reasons. This information can influence investor decisions by revealing insiders' perspectives on the company's value.

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A 10-K is a comprehensive annual report a public company files with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that summarizes its business, financial results, risks, legal issues, and management discussion. Investors use it like a company’s detailed yearly report card and instruction manual — it helps reveal how the company makes money, where it might face trouble, and the underlying numbers that support valuation and investment decisions.

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A Rule 10b5-1 trading plan is a pre-arranged schedule that allows company insiders to buy or sell stock at specific times, even if they have inside information. It helps prevent accusations of unfair trading by making these transactions look planned and transparent, rather than sneaky or illegal.

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Restricted stock units are a type of company reward where employees are promised shares of stock, but they only fully own these shares after meeting certain conditions, like staying with the company for a set time. They matter because they can become valuable assets and are often used to motivate employees to help the company succeed.

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Assets under management and advisement is the combined total value of client money a firm directly manages (it makes the investment decisions) and the assets it advises on (it provides recommendations but the client keeps final control). Investors watch this number because it signals the firm's size, fee-earning potential and market reach—similar to how the number of customers and sales show a retailer’s scale and income prospects.

The new AI capability is designed to transform Direct Advisory Suite into an interactive, connected workspace that helps streamline key tasks from research and meeting prep to client-ready proposals

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today introduced an AI assistant embedded in Direct Advisory Suite, its flagship advisor platform. The launch reflects a transformation toward an AI-first advisor experience, helping reshape how advisors prepare, respond, and manage client needs across the core stages of investment advice.

Direct Advisory Suite’s AI assistant is an interactive, AI-powered workspace that brings together investment research, portfolio analysis, and proposal generation within a single, connected environment. Drawing on Morningstar’s independent data and research, the AI assistant surfaces timely insights and automates multi-step tasks to help advisors produce client-ready output with greater speed and confidence.

“Advisors are facing rising client expectations and growing workloads, and incremental efficiency gains aren’t enough,” said Thomas Aviles, head of advisor software at Morningstar. “Our AI assistant delivers outcome-orientated support so advisors can walk into client conversations better prepared to deliver high-quality guidance.”

The AI assistant is woven throughout Direct Advisory Suite; using natural-language requests, advisors can move from client setup to portfolio analysis to a finished report or proposal without switching tools — work that previously required navigating multiple steps and modules. By carrying context across each stage, the AI assistant is designed to apply relevant data and capabilities along the way, cutting clicks and reducing the learning curve that can slow advisors down.

The AI assistant supports key tasks such as identifying meaningful rating changes, preparing meeting briefs, supporting research and portfolio analysis, and can turn client statements into actionable proposals directly within the advisor’s workflow. Because it is powered by Morningstar’s independent data and research, outputs are grounded in the same trusted insights advisors use today. The platform is protected by enterprise‑grade security, and client data is never used to train AI models.

The launch marks a meaningful step forward in Morningstar’s AI strategy to become the intelligence layer for investing—the grounding source investors need for analyst-backed, precise, and comprehensive ratings and insights. The new AI assistant in Morningstar Direct advances the firm’s efforts to use AI to transform its in-platform experiences and replaces its former AI chatbot, Mo. In Direct Advisory Suite, that strategy is designed to modernize how advisors work and strengthen their value in a new era of advice.

“Our mission has always been to empower investor success, and advisors are central to that work,” Aviles said. “By standing alongside them with innovative tools designed to elevate their insight and sharpen their recommendations, we’re helping advisors guide investors with clarity and confidence.”

The AI assistant is integrated directly into Direct Advisory Suite and can also be accessed through other AI tools advisors use via Morningstar’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) connections. The initial rollout is available to a subset of US-based Direct Advisory Suite users, with continued enhancements and broader availability anticipated for US and Canadian clients throughout 2026.

Learn more about Morningstar Direct Advisory Suite here.

About Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment insights in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The Company offers an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers and owners, retirement plan providers and sponsors, institutional investors in the debt and private capital markets, and alliances and redistributors. Morningstar provides data and research insights on a wide range of investment offerings, including managed investment products, publicly listed companies, private capital markets, debt securities, and real-time global market data. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with approximately $378 billion in AUMA as of Dec. 31, 2025. The Company operates through wholly-owned subsidiaries in 32 countries. For more information, visit www.morningstar.com/company. Follow Morningstar on LinkedIn @Morningstar.

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is used in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on our current expectations about future events or future financial performance. Forward-looking statements by their nature address matters that are, to different degrees, uncertain, and often contain words such as “ consider,” “future,” “maintain,” “may,” “expect,” “potential,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “continue,” “will,” or the negative thereof, and similar expressions. These statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause the events we discuss not to occur or to differ significantly from what we expect. For us, these risks and uncertainties include, among other things, failing to innovate our product and service offerings or anticipate our clients’ changing needs. A more complete description of these risks and uncertainties can be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), including our most recent Reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. If any of these risks and uncertainties materialize, our actual future results and other future events may vary significantly from what we expect. We do not undertake to update our forward-looking statements as a result of new information or future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law. You are, however, advised to review any further disclosures we make on related subjects, and about new or additional risks, uncertainties and assumptions in our filings with the SEC on Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K.

©2026 Morningstar, Inc. All rights reserved.

MORN-P

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Michael Claussen, +1 312 696-6037, newsroom@morningstar.com

Source: Morningstar, Inc.