Morningstar's Annual Global Asset Flows Report Shows 2015 Inflows One-Third Lower
than in 2014

Equity funds again top other category groups despite lower year-over-year inflows
CHICAGO, March 22, 2016—Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider
of independent investment research, today published its fourth annual Global Asset
Flows Report examining worldwide 2015 mutual fund and exchange-traded product(ETP) asset flows. At $949 billion, total flows in 2015 were notably lower than the $1.4
trillion that flowed into funds globally in 2014. The U.S. fund industry had new asset
flows of $263 billion, down from $580 billion in 2014. Asia showed the strongest organic
growth rate, 18.6 percent, among the regions analyzed by Morningstar.
“2015 brought growing uncertainty for markets worldwide, fueled by changes inmonetary policies in the United States and Europe, slowing economic growth aroundthe world, and slumping commodity prices, especially oil. Accordingly, inflows werelower in 2015 than 2014, and total assets decreased as global markets posted negative
returns,” Alina Lamy, senior markets analyst for Morningstar, said. “WhereasU.S.-domiciled funds attracted the largest flows in 2014, we saw smaller and more
evenly distributed flows across regions in 2015. Equity funds led category groups
globally in terms of annual inflows, although 2015’s intake of $305 billion was smaller
than the $476 billion these funds collected in 2014.”
Highlights from Morningstar’s Global Asset Flows Report include:
In a notable change from trends observed in 2014, allocation funds gathered $171
billion, outpacing inflows of $132 billion for fixed-income funds, to become the global
category group with the second-largest inflows.
Alternative funds enjoyed a second year of double-digit organic growth, the highest rate
among global category groups, bolstered by investors seeking options to diversify andprovide consistent returns in an environment of uncertainty for both equity and fixedincome.
Vanguard maintained its position as undisputed leader of the fund industry, sustained
and propelled by the growing popularity of index strategies. The majority of the firm’s$251 billion inflow went to its passive funds, but its active funds also gathered inflows
of $15 billion. Among active fund providers, Fidelity and J.P. Morgan saw the highest
2015 inflows, collecting $57 billion and $23 billion, respectively.

For all major regions, the percentage of passive assets in equity funds was larger thanthe percentage of passive assets in fixed-income funds, and the United States had thehighest percentage of passive assets of all regions. Nowhere was the divide between
active and passive so pronounced as in the United States, where active funds suffered
outflows in 2015 and passive funds attracted inflows of approximately $400 billion.
Global ETP assets were near $3 trillion at year end. While equity ETPs hold the vast
majority of assets, fixed-income and alternative offerings have enjoyed healthy growth.
The United States accounts for the largest volume of ETPs globally.
The Morningstar Global Asset Flows Report is based on assets reported by more than
3,800 fund groups across 82 domiciles. The report represents more than 92,000 fund
portfolios encompassing more than 220,000 share classes and includes a global overview
and four region-specific sections: United States, Europe, Australia, and Latin America.
Morningstar estimates net flow for mutual funds by computing the change in assets not
explained by the performance of the fund and net flow for ETPs by computing thechange in shares outstanding.
To view the complete report, please click here. For more information about Morningstar
Asset Flows, please visit http://global.morningstar.com/assetflows.
The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content
providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate,complete, or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible forany damages or losses arising from any use of this information. Past performance is noguarantee of future results.
About Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North
America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of products
and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, andretirement plan providers and sponsors. Morningstar provides data on more than
510,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles,
along with real-time global market data on more than 17 million equities, indexes,futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange andTreasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services throughits investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $180 billion in assets underadvisement and management as of Dec. 31, 2015. The company has operations in 27

countries.
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