Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN) has announced an agreement with the Personal Investment Management and Financial Advice Association (PIMFA) to serve as the authorized index provider for PIMFA’s Private Investor Index Series and Equity Risk Index Series, effective March 2, 2026.
These indices, which are widely adopted across the UK wealth management industry, provide benchmarks for portfolio performance, asset allocation reviews, and fund manager comparisons. The agreement will lead to their rebranding as the Morningstar PIMFA Investor Index Series and the Morningstar PIMFA Equity Risk Index Series.
Robert Edwards, Managing Director EMEA at Morningstar Indexes, commented on the collaboration, stating it combines Morningstar’s expertise in transparent, high-quality index solutions with PIMFA’s influence in the UK wealth management sector. He added that the aim is to provide benchmarks and actionable insights to support wealth managers and their clients in decision-making and performance measurement.
Liz Field, Chief Executive at PIMFA, noted that the Private Investor Indices were introduced 28 years ago in 1997, with the Equity Risk Indices added in 2019. She explained that this collaboration will allow PIMFA to continue offering flexible multi-asset indices with potential for future enhancements based on evolving needs in the private client sector. The decision followed an in-depth review by the PIMFA Indices Committee and subsequent board appointment of Morningstar.
The Private Investor Index Series consists of five composite benchmarks covering equities, fixed income, real estate, cash, and alternatives, designed to support analysis across five risk profiles: Conservative, Income, Balanced, Growth, and Global Growth. These profiles reflect strategies commonly employed by UK wealth managers and private client portfolios.
Morningstar will manage and maintain these indices, with index weights determined by PIMFA through quarterly surveys of member firms’ model portfolios, overseen by the PIMFA Indices Committee. The index series will continue to offer the existing suite of five indices per series, including 10 years of historical data from the outset.
Morningstar Indexes has been recognized as the fastest-growing global index provider for the last five years, according to Burton-Taylor International Consulting. Morningstar, Inc. is a provider of independent investment insights and offers products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, and asset managers globally. PIMFA is the trade association for firms providing wealth management, investment services, and financial advice in the UK, looking after approximately £1.65 trillion in private savings and investments and employing over 63,000 people. PIMFA encourages members or firms utilizing the indices to contact them for additional information.
