Morningstar International Fund Awards Methodology 2019 – Germany | Morningstar | TBA, Frankfurt, Germany

Statement of Purpose:

The objective of the quantitatively driven Morningstar International Fund Awards program is to recognise those funds and fund groups that have added the most value within the context of a relevant peer group for investors over the past year and over the longer-term. The program is distinct from the qualitative awards issued by Morningstar’s research team.

The awards are annual, so we believe it is appropriate to emphasise a fund’s one-year performance. However, we do not believe that it serves investors well to give awards to funds that have posted a strong one-year return, but have otherwise not delivered good results for
investors.

The awards methodology therefore emphasises the one-year period, but funds must also have delivered strong three-year returns after adjusting for risk within the awards peer groups in order to obtain an award. Further, they must have been at least in the top half of their
respective peer groups in at least two of the past three calendar years. We believe this combination will ensure that the awards are given to funds which have earned strong one-year results, and have also shown they have the ability to earn strong long-term returns without
undue risk.

Types of Award:
• There are two types of Morningstar Fund Award: Morningstar Category Awards and Morningstar Fund House Awards.

Morningstar Category Awards:
• These awards are given to the funds with the best risk-adjusted performance within their Morningstar Categories or groupings of Morningstar Categories, subject to qualitative review.

Morningstar Fund House Awards:
• These awards are given to the fund groups with the strongest performing fund line-ups on a risk adjusted basis. Fund performance is evaluated within the Morningstar Categories.

Morningstar Category Awards Methodology:

Categories Eligible for Awards

Equity:
• Germany Large-Cap Equity
• Germany Small/Mid-Cap Equity
• Europe Equity (Europe Large-Cap Value, Europe Large-Cap Blend, Europe Large-Cap Growth, Europe Flex-Cap, Europe Equity Income)
• Global Equity (Global Large-Cap Value, Global Large-Cap Blend, Global Large-Cap Growth, Global Flex-Cap, Global Equity Income)

Fixed Interest:
• EUR Bond (EUR Corporate Bond, EUR Diversified Bond, EUR Government Bond)

Allocation:
• EUR Allocation (EUR Cautious Allocation, EUR Moderate Allocation, EUR Aggressive Allocation, EUR Flexible Allocation, EUR Cautious Allocation - Global, EUR Moderate Allocation - Global, EUR Aggressive Allocation - Global, EUR Flexible Allocation - Global)