2010 10-K: Part I Investment  Morningstar Advisor  Morningstar  Retirement  Licensed Data  Consulting  Workstation  Morningstar.com  Direct  Advice Advent Software • Bloomberg  • • • eVestment Alliance  • FactSet Research Services  • • Financial Engines  • Financial Express • • Interactive Data Corporation • Mercer  • News Corporation*  • Russell Investments  • Standard & Poor’s  • • Thomson Reuters**  •  •  • Wilshire Associates  •  • Yahoo!  • Zephyr Associates  • Major Competitors by Product Government Regulation United States ** Thomson Reuters includes Lipper * News Corporation includes Dow Jones, MarketWatch, and  SmartMoney In addition, because these four subsidiaries provide investment  advisory services to retirement plans and their participants, they  may be acting as fiduciaries under the Employee Retirement Income  Security Act of 1974 (ERISA). As fiduciaries under ERISA, they have  duties of loyalty and prudence, as well as duties to diversify invest- ments and to follow plan documents to comply with the applicable  portions of ERISA. Investment advisory and broker-dealer businesses are subject to  extensive regulation in the United States at both the federal and  state level, as well as by self-regulatory organizations. Financial  services companies are among the nation’s most extensively regu- lated. The SEC is responsible for enforcing the federal securities  laws and oversees federally registered investment advisors and  broker-dealers. As of December 31, 2010, four of our subsidiaries, Ibbotson  Associates, Inc., Ibbotson Associates Advisors, LLC, Morningstar  Associates, LLC, and Morningstar Investment Services, Inc. are  registered as investment advisors with the SEC under the Investment  Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (Advisers Act). As registered  investment advisors, these companies are subject to the require- ments and regulations of the Advisers Act. Such requirements relate  to, among other things, record-keeping, reporting, and standards  of care, as well as general anti-fraud prohibitions. Morningstar Investment Services is a broker-dealer registered under  the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act) and a member  of FINRA. The regulation of broker-dealers has, to a large extent,  been delegated by the federal securities laws to self-regulatory  organizations, including FINRA. Subject to approval by the SEC,  FINRA adopts rules that govern its members. FINRA conducts peri- odic examinations of the operations of Morningstar Investment  Services. Broker-dealers are subject to regulations that cover all  aspects of the securities business, including sales, capital structure,  record-keeping, and the conduct of directors, officers, and employ- ees. Violation of applicable regulations can result in the revocation  of a broker-dealer license, the imposition of censures or fines, and  the suspension or expulsion of a firm or its officers or employees.  Morningstar Investment Services is subject to certain net capital  44