Delivered through a secure web-based service, Morningstar's KIID Production Platform provides UCITS management companies and distributors with a complete and streamlined system for the production, management, and delivery of each Key Investor Information Document. The service is available for all EU-domiciled UCITS funds in the Morningstar database.

The KIID Production Platform leverages Morningstar's established technology infrastructure and processes and is fully integrated with the company's extensive fund database. It is preloaded with performance, risk, and other mandatory KIID data and statistics, including a weekly updated risk/return measure-the Synthetic Risk Return Indicator (SRRI)-calculated by Morningstar in accordance with current methodology proposed by the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

Key features of the Platform are:
• An end-to-end production service that brings the sourcing and management of KIID data; production and document updates; and document dissemination and storage under one platform.
• A fully integrated KIID template developed in line with ESMA guidelines. The platform can also easily integrate with a fund group's own KIID-defined template.
• A flexible data sourcing mechanism that enables firms to easily blend in-house data alongside Morningstar's accurate, reliable, and timely fund data .
• A data alert system that enables data administrators to monitor critical changes in KIID data, such as the SRRI.
• Multi-level user access that allows data editors, translators, and reviewers to efficiently approve KIID.
• Flexible distribution through a choice of delivery methods such as API, FTP, and e-mail to pre-loaded distributions lists, helping UCITS management companies meet KIID dissemination requirements.

"The new KIID requirements represent a great leap forward in helping investors gather essential information on investments in a format that is easy to understand," said Geoff Balzano, Chief Executive Officer, Morningstar UK. "They also present industry challenges around document volume production, accuracy, and timely delivery. Morningstar's KIID Production Platform helps to meet these challenges and offers firms a robust end-to-end solution that has a proven capability to support large-scale document production. Our new service enables firms to minimise their KIID production effort, freeing their resources for the critically important areas of review and approval."

The underlying infrastructure behind Morningstar's KIID Production Platform already produces and distributes more than 350,000 fund factsheets a month. UCITS groups and distributors with existing in-house document production facilities can leverage Morningstar's comprehensive data feed solution to meet their KIID obligations, through Morningstar's Licensed Data Feeds service.

Morningstar is working with local and EU regulatory bodies to share best practices and ensure that Morningstar's KIID Production Platform incorporates the impact of changing regulation. Paul Kaplan, CFA, Ph.D., Morningstar's director of quantitative research, is leading a study to determine how the current SRRI methodology essential to KIID can be improved to provide a more useful risk metric for comparing risk levels within and across different investment strategies.