M* Fund Category Definitions published 04/2025, available only in 09/2025 (don't know why M* does this every year!).
Changes, April 30, 2025
× Added Global Aggressive Allocation, Global Moderately Aggressive Allocation, Global Moderate Allocation, Global Moderately Conservative Allocation, Global Conservative Allocation, and Miscellaneous Allocation
× Retired Global Allocation and Leverage Net Long
× Revised text definitions of Aggressive Allocation, Moderately Aggressive Allocation, Moderate Allocation, Moderately Conservative Allocation, Conservative Allocation, Global Large-Stock Growth, Global Large-Stock Blend, Global Large-Stock Value, Global Small/Mid Stock
(
Domestic allocation/hybrid funds have 75%+ in US securities, global allocation/hybrid funds have (only) 25%+ in foreign securities. This would make most TDFs global, but TDFs are classified separately & there is no mention of US vs foreign securities in TDF descriptions.
Global stock funds have 25-80% in foreign stocks.)
https://pdfhost.io/v/ZA2TxpMej3_MStar_Fund_Categories_042025Note about PDF Host.
M* Methodology/Research documents are now for download only (some years ago, they could be linked). M* Library isn't also easily searchable. But if you know the publication date, you can scroll through reverse-chrono order and locate the document. What I do is upload these documents to FREE
PDF Host site and link them. Yesterday, some could open these documents, others could not. I also had problems uploading documents yesterday. So, hopefully, PDF Host works better for posters now.
https://www.morningstar.com/business/insights/research/methodology-documents
Comments
https://advisor.morningstar.com/Enterprise/VTC/MorningstarCategoryClassificationUSFunds_April2025.pdf
PDF Host does seem to be working for me today.
Each time I access it, I add the site to my security software's "allow list". (I remove it when I'm done, preferring safety to convenience.) I did "allow" it yesterday, so that was not the cause of the problem I was experiencing then.
https://pdfhost.io/v/yjDfKREXgy_MStar_Fund_Categories_102025
Changes, Oct. 31, 2025 - more private-equity/credit & securitized categories
Added Private Equity, Venture Capital, Private Debt - General, Private Debt - Direct Lending, Private MultiAsset, Direct Real Estate, Direct Infrastructure, Government Mortgage-Backed Bond, Securitized Bond - Focused, Securitized Bond - Diversified, Multi-Asset Leveraged, and Equity Digital Assets.
As for all the private securities funds and niche funds, enjoy. Not my cup of tea.
Excerpted from an article written by Eric Jacobson from M* which I'm unable to find online.
"In that spirit, we recently broke out three new groups,
including the government mortgage-backed bond
category. The interest rate sensitivity of mortgages is
very sensitive to homeowner refinancings, which
can cause dedicated mortgage fund durations to
swing to extremes.
That sets mortgage portfolios apart from those
intentionally managing their rate sensitivity within
predictable ranges, often via a mix of US Treasuries,
government agency bonds, and government
agency-backed mortgages."
"By contrast, the new securitized bond–diversified
category comprises funds with a broader range of
securitized sectors, including agency, nonagency, and
commercial mortgages, asset-backed securities,
and collateralized loan obligations, for example. Most
had been mixed in with intermediate-term core
bond or core-plus bond funds based on their credit
quality and interest rate sensitivity, but their lack
of exposure to corporate and Treasury bonds often
made them outliers."
"Single-sector funds are less common in bondland
than in equities, but the popularity of ETFs as portfolio
building blocks has ushered in several devoted
to single securitized sectors. Roughly 60% of these
funds focus on CLOs, with the rest clustered
around commercial mortgages, and a few on ABS.
Risk was a prominent factor in deciding to break them
out into the new securitized bond–focused category.
Many have interest rate exposures consistent with
the ultrashort bond category, but their single-sector
design meant most hugged the edges of their
categories."