Rick Di Cristoforo
Director of Research and Investment Products
Morningstar Australasia Pty Ltd
As part of our ongoing commitment to transparency and investor outcomes, we want to outline upcoming changes to our Medalist Rating™ that will take effect globally in April 2026, with additional local changes for Australia and New Zealand later in the year. These updates are designed to provide greater transparency, stability and usability, empowering investors to more easily identify investments with the potential to outperform their Morningstar Category average.
What’s changing in April 2026:
Morningstar is simplifying its global Medalist Rating methodology. Key enhancements include:
Simplified Structure: Funds are evaluated against their Morningstar Category average rather than a benchmark, enabling investors to more easily identify Medalist options within a category and make meaningful peer comparisons.
New Price Score: A Morningstar Medalist Rating Price Score from –2.5 to 2.5 will explicitly reflect whether an investment’s fee is a liability or competitive advantage, subtracting from or adding to the overall rating.
Fixed Rating Thresholds: Medalist Ratings will be determined by a simple combination of fundamental pillar ratings (People, Process, Parent) and a Medalist Rating Price Score, increasing stability by eliminating a forced distribution of ratings that caused ratings to change based on updates to other funds.
The ratings scale will remain a five-tier system: Gold, Silver, Bronze, Neutral, and Negative.
Withdrawal of Medalist Ratings based on any algorithm-driven People, Process and Parent pillars in Australia
Additionally, from March 31, 2026, Medalist Ratings based on any algorithm-driven People, Process and Parent pillars will be withdrawn from Australia and all ratings in Australia will be produced qualitatively by Morningstar’s analysts. Morningstar expects the coverage breadth of qualitatively rated funds to expand in Australia.
Transition to Issuer Initiated Ratings in Australia and New Zealand
Starting from June 2026, Morningstar Australia will offer Issuer Initiated Ratings where fund managers or financial product issuers in Australia and New Zealand will pay a fee to Morningstar for the preparation of a Medalist Rating.
Consistent with the prevailing market practices for ratings in Australia, this business model is specific to Australia and New Zealand.
While Morningstar is changing its business model in Australia and New Zealand, the Medalist Ratings methodology continues to apply across all markets, ensuring all Medalist Ratings are based on the same robust analytical framework.
Please visit our Medalist Ratings microsite for more information, including our new methodology and FAQs.