Morningstar Will Pay $10 Million for Hedge Fund Database

Morningstar, the most well-known mutual fund ranking firm, aims to "bring transparency to hedge funds" in the same way they did for mutual funds. On Monday, Morningstar announced it will pay $10 million to buy the institutional hedge fund and separate account database division from InvestorForce Inc. According to Reuters, the all-cash deal will give Morningstar "access to the Altvest hedge fund database which will double the number of funds that the investment research firm already tracks."

"Last year, Morningstar became the latest investment research firm to move into the fast-growing $1.3 trillion hedge fund industry with a database that currently tracks roughly 3,000 hedge funds' telephone numbers, addresses, and performance data." Morningstar also plans to publish reports designed to help investors select among the world's estimated 8,500 hedge funds.