Morningstar: impressions of the experience

The conference felt very odd to me. The impression that I'd share here, but not in the July issue, is of a dowager ... the woman of a certain age who's decided to show them all that the old girl still has it, so she buys a party dress, gets a new 'do, practices her Gen Z ("I've got the tea on that boujee NPC!") and heads out ... to cut a rug.

The keystone address was cued up with pounding music and a disembodied voice urging up to put our hands together for Ivanna Hampton, a Morningstar podcaster and senior multimedia editor, who was wearing a bright yellow suit and brought the energy and affect of a Ted talk to a room full of folks who look ... well, pretty much the way you'd think of roomful of financial planners would look. She promised to help us "soothe your clients" if we'd just "Evolve Ahead Together" which would happen if we "were all ready to hear Savita's bullish outlook on the markets!!"

The keynote speaker was a senior person at BoA/Merrill who ran through her slide deck (with four - six graphs per slide), didn't leave time for questions and left the conference despite the published plan to have her meet the media afterwards (which might speak to the importance of the conference to her schedule). The room was (mostly) full at least in part because Morningstar waived the registration fee for financial planners who agreed to sit through at least three sponsored meetings (which were definitely not sales pitches).

Most of the events other than the keynotes took place in a single, echo-y room the same of an airplane hanger. The Morningstar sales and service people occupied the center of the floor, with other exhibitors on three sides of them. (Fidelity reserved one five-foot folding table which was unstaffed most of the time, several others likewise with stalwarts like Ariel absent). Breakout sessions took place along one wall in a series of little corrals where the amplified speakers' voices rang out across the whole space. The sessions tended to earn CE credits and the ones I lingered near had a distinct podcast feel. Little data, lots of affirmation.

Pretty noticeably absent were, you know, portfolio managers. Messrs. Herro and Jain, in the conference's last time slot, were among the few distinguished exceptions.

I chatted with some of the Morningstar analysts, who allowed that conference attendance (and, presumably, sponsorship) had taken a hit since Covid and they were scrambling to find ways to rebuild its relevance. I like the Morningstar folks and respect their efforts to revitalize. I hope they succeed. I'd be curious to know, though, why they even bother with the conference? That is, is it primarily a way to market Morningstar's myriad services (one adviser reported being blindsided by a $13,000 price increase for exceeding the limits of his Morningstar Direct subscription) and connect with current and potential subscribers? If so, fine ... but don't be surprised if the investing community is increasingly reluctant to underwrite the enterprise. And as their enthusiasm for attending dwindles, the conference's draw might follow.

I'll share actual substance in another post or two.