By Scott Ronalds

This week Morningstar Canada, a leading provider of independent investment research, updated its Stewardship Grades for 2012. The grades were first introduced in Canada in 2010 (they’ve been published in the U.S. since 2004) as a means of capturing some of the intangibles associated with making an investment decision.

Stewardship Grades measure how closely the interests of fund companies are aligned with the interests of clients. Rather than look at past performance, they focus on qualitative measures including corporate culture and manager incentives. In Morningstar’s words, “The grades can help determine the difference between a great investment and one to avoid.”

We’re pleased to be one of only two companies (out of 26) to receive an overall ‘A’ grade this year (Capital International was the other). The full report and grades are available on Morningstar’s website.