Individual investors who are accredited and who are premium members of Morningstar's website, along with subscribers to Morningstar Advisor Workstation Office Edition, will be able to view the strategy, risk/return metrics, performance, fees, management background and purchase requirements on the 3,000 hedge funds in the investment research company's database. Morningstar hedge fund analyst research reports will be available on Morningstar Direct. The company began assembling the database two years ago and plans to expand it further.
"With more than $1.5 trillion in assets, hedge funds have fast become a significant vehicle for investment," said Joe Mansueto, chairman and CEO of Morningstar. "Despite their growth, there is a lack of information on hedge funds, making research difficult and oftentimes expensive. We hope to bring more transparency to the hedge fund industry to help investors better evaluate and compare these investments."