AUCKLAND, 27 February 2013 – Morningstar Australasia Pty Limited, a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced the winners of the New Zealand Morningstar Awards 2013. Milford Asset Management took the top award as Morningstar's New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year.

"The winners in the New Zealand Morningstar Awards have all shown themselves to be first-class stewards of their investors' capital. The quality of their people, process, philosophy, and investment style are a testament to this, and continue to enable them to provide outstanding results for their investors," Morningstar Australasia
Co-Head of Fund Research Chris Douglas said.

New Zealand Morningstar Awards 2013 / Winner / Finalists
New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year / Milford Asset Management / Fisher Funds, OnePath
Fixed Interest Category, New Zealand / Tyndall Investment Management / Russell Investments Global Fixed Interest, TOWER BondPlus
Domestic Equities Category, New Zealand / Fisher Funds / AMP Capital Investors, Milford Asset Management
International Equities Category, New Zealand / OnePath International Share / AMP Capital Global Shares, BT International
KiwiSaver Category, New Zealand / Milford Asset Management / Fisher Funds, OnePath

New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year 2013 – Milford Asset Management
The Morningstar New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year 2013 is Milford Asset Management. Milford has evolved from a small start-up with a limited product suite to a diversified contender in the local funds management industry. Brian Gaynor's Milford Active Growth Fund has been a market leader for many years now, but the lesser-known products are also impressive. Milford Trans Tasman has performed exceptionally well since inception, while the more recent addition of multisector funds has shown that there's much more to this firm than just New Zealand and Australian equities. Milford has reinvested continually in people and processes, and has a genuine focus on investor engagement. Transparency and disclosure are also a cut above the rest. Milford is setting the standard in the New Zealand funds management industry, and richly deserves the overall Fund Manager of the Year award.

Fixed Interest Category, New Zealand 2013 – Tyndall Investment Management
The Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year Fixed Interest 2013 is Tyndall Investment Management. Fergus McDonald has been a very dependable fixed interest manager during his many years at Tyndall, and his performance in 2012 was proof of this small but highly-capable team's market knowledge and expertise. Tyndall's hefty but judicious exposure to credit and higher-running yield in 2012 contributed to the very strong showing, and long-term returns also impress. The admirable combination of people, process, and performance all mean that Tyndall is thoroughly deserving of winning the Fixed Interest category award.

Domestic Equities Category, New Zealand 2013 – Fisher Funds
The Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year Domestic Equities 2013 is Fisher Funds. This is the second consecutive year that Fisher Funds has won the award for Domestic Equities. The shop's New Zealand Growth Fund, managed jointly by Carmel Fisher and Murray Brown, shrewdly targets growing mid-cap Kiwi firms and holds on to them. Volatility may be higher than some competitors, but no-one can match Fisher Funds' 10-year track record of providing top-notch performance. The firm also deserves commendation for its hallmark, a commitment to openness, transparency, and engagement with its investors. These characteristics all mean that Fisher Funds remains at the summit among New Zealand equities fund managers.

International Equities Category, New Zealand 2013 – OnePath International Share
The Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year International Equities 2013 is OnePath International Share. OnePath has regularly won this award, and for good reason: it's a robust yet uncomplicated approach to international shares investing that provides exposure to proven performers. OnePath has continued to maintain a carefully-blended trio of underlying world-class investment managers in Franklin Global Growth, LSV, and MFS, demonstrating yet again expertise at managing a multimanager offering. OnePath International Share remains a top-notch option for investors wanting to diversify their investments overseas.

KiwiSaver Category, New Zealand 2013 – Milford Asset Management
The Morningstar KiwiSaver Fund Manager of the Year 2013 is Milford Asset Management. Milford's Balanced and Conservative KiwiSaver options have joined the firm's well-established Active Growth offering to create a well-rounded menu for retirement income savers. The firm maintains a very high standard for investor engagement, transparency, disclosure, and the overall investor experience. These essential characteristics are complemented by strong results – Milford KiwiSaver Balanced was the best-performing option in Morningstar's database in 2012, while Milford Active Growth was the best-performing single-sector option. We consider the Milford suite of KiwiSaver options the best all-round solution for New Zealanders' retirement savings needs.

The Awards are copyright Morningstar. Fund managers may not publicise the Award(s) without the prior written consent of Morningstar.

Methodology
Only fund managers with managed funds available for sale in New Zealand qualify for inclusion in the New Zealand Morningstar Awards, and only their portfolio investment entity (PIE) options are considered.

Winners are determined by a combination of qualitative research by Morningstar's fund analysts; risk-adjusted returns over medium- to long-term periods; and performance in the 2012 calendar year. Morningstar's fund analysts assess the track record for a fund based on Morningstar's Risk-Adjusted Return measure over the one-, three-, and five-year periods. The objective is to screen for fund managers that have provided consistently strong returns, and not just reward those with the most impressive one-year return, but which have otherwise struggled to impress.

Morningstar's fund analysts then conduct a qualitative assessment of the fund managers under consideration. Factors considered include the relative quality of the fund manager's people, process, philosophy, and style, along with business and investment disciplines during the 2012 calendar year and over the longer term. The qualitative assessment also captures practical issues that quantitative screens cannot. After assessing the quantitative and qualitative outcomes for each fund manager, Morningstar's fund analysts then debate and decide on the fund managers the analysts believe are worthy winners and finalists across the various sectors. If a verdict cannot be reached by a unanimous decision, then each analyst casts a vote to decide.

Determining the Morningstar New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year 2013
To receive the Morningstar New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year award, a fund manager must have offered funds in multiple award categories, or have delivered an outstanding outcome for investors. Fund managers were assessed not only on whether they were a finalist in more than one category, but on products that had peer-beating returns. The fund manager that had strong returns across multiple categories and was deemed a good steward of investors' capital by Morningstar's fund analysts was awarded the Morningstar New Zealand Fund Manager of the Year 2013 award. The Morningstar Fund Manager of the Year 2013 therefore represents the New Zealand fund manager that, in Morningstar's opinion, has maintained the highest level of funds management excellence.

Determining the KiwiSaver Category Award
Finalists in this category are at the discretion of Morningstar's fund analysts. The winner is the provider that offers the best solution for New Zealanders' retirement savings needs. The winner is determined by a combination of qualitative research by Morningstar's fund analysts, transparency and disclosure, investor experience, performance, and fees.

About Morningstar Australasia and Morningstar, Inc.
Morningstar Australasia is a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., 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 individuals, financial advisers, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on more than 416,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than nine million equities, indices, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its registered investment adviser subsidiaries and had approximately US$149.0 billion in assets under advisement and management at 31 December 2012. The company has operations in 27 countries.