Morningstar's advisor business continues to serve both traditional advisors and the more product-sales focused camp with its two main investment-research products - the Principia suite and Web-based Advisor Workstation platform.

Chris Boruff, president of Morningstar's advisor business, told the MutualFundWire.com that the Chicago fund tracker aims to stay on top of new product features and enhancements to best serve advisors' investment planning capabilities in both the online and CD ROM formats. He notes that Morningstar stands to gain as more of the product-sales leaning advisors, such as those working for insurance firms, turn to providing wider investment options and deeper analysis.

Next month, Morningstar's new Principia Hypotheticals advisor tool, a module within the Principia suite, will be available to its roughly 30,000 users via the CD ROM format. The feature was designed to help advisors create NASD-compliant, hypothetical illustrations on single investments and multi-asset portfolios. The hypo program takes into account taxes, fees, specific investment amounts and schedules.

The new optional add-on was adapted from the hypothetical illustrations feature available in the Advisor Workstation platform, according to Boruff. He adds that the Web platform service, which is used by some 20,000 users at 20 financial institutions, allows for extensive customization. Also, in the data arena, Morningstar recently launched its new 529 Advisor tool, a database product focused on the college-savings plan space that incorporates advanced search capabilities. 

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