Morningstar, Inc. yesterday said it has revised its classification structure for global equities based on the market a company serves rather than the type of business it conducts.

In general, the new classification structure will have fewer Industries and Industry Groups and redefined Sectors and Super Sectors.

"The overarching structure of our original sector classification system was created nearly 10 years ago, and since that time the markets and our clients' needs have evolved," stated John Rekenthaler, vice president of research, said.

"We developed the new system in conjunction with Morningstar's Equity Research team to better reflect the sensitivity of a company's operations to economic cycles. This is a more intuitive approach that can accommodate the global equity markets and help investors make better-informed investing decisions."

Morningstar will roll out the new classification structure in phases. All products will adopt the new Industry categories on Oct. 15. Morningstar's Equity Research, Equity Data Feeds, and Equity Indexes groups will also roll out the new Industry Group, Sector, and Super Sector categories in October. All other product groups will follow with the adoption of the Industry Group, Sector, and Super Sector categories toward the end of the first quarter of 2011. 

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