Morningstar reviews

The company is basically a start-up that was in the right place at the right time (had a fund rating product in the '80s when employers started converting pensions into 401(k) accounts and shifting the burden of retirement planning to workers). The upper management believes there company has been successful because of the brilliance of their management. In actuality, the company has succeeded despite rather than due to the management. Sometimes there is nothing more dangerous than success; Morningstar is a case in point. Business decisions are made by people unqualified to make them and inexperienced. These are the ones who have worked for the company for years and who, whether competent or not, are trusted by someone above them who is similarly incompetent. The result in the area where I worked was a real Lord of the Flies kind of story where people with no management experience and little experience in the general industry were put in positions of supervision over others. Imagine someone that might be working as an assistant at a reputable investment bank instead being the head of a 100-person group. Morningstar's business is struggling as the organization long ago exceeded the limits of their competency and two market crashes within 10-years has removed the attraction in many of their clients' minds of investing in the market. The company is attempting to shift its focus to institutional customers, but haven't realized that this is a much more competitive market with players who are much more well established, much better run, and have much deeper pockets. Morningstar has captured the low-hanging fruit--now what.

- Pay below industry average - Subpar talent and general lack of drive to achieve and excel. The "chill" culture at Morningstar means people are there to simply clock out and there is little motivation to work on cutting edge solutions - Highly political organization with numerous lifers that are simply incompetent and would not be employed in a more competitive organization - Questionable management that does not consider employee feedback and does not make meaningful changes