Global investment research firm Morningstar has created a business unit focused on the wealth management market.
Effective 1 January 2022, the wealth management solutions group unites several Morningstar’s businesses, including managed portfolios from Morningstar’s investment management group, portfolio management software Morningstar Office, investment data aggregator ByAllAccounts, and the individual investor offering.
The UK and international business from Praemium will become part of the group after Morningstar’s acquisition finalises.
Later this year, Morningstar Investment Services plans to unveil a direct indexing offering on its turnkey asset management platform (TAMP) for advisers, marking the first product launch for the wealth management solutions team and adding to its existing product range.
Management
Daniel Needham has been appointed president of the business, expanding on his prior role overseeing Morningstar’s investment management group as president and chief investment officer since 2015.
He said: “As part of our mission to empower investor success, we have big ambitions to build on the success of the offerings we have today while connecting them together toward a comprehensive wealth management platform.
“We have recently added an impressive roster of industry leaders to our wealth management solutions leadership team to do just that.
“We can free up advisers’ time by making the workflow seamless and bringing freedom of investment choice, so advisors can do what they do best: serve their clients.”
The wealth solutions group’s leadership team includes:
- Adley Bowden, head of individual investor – he joined the firm in June 2021;
- Elizabeth Durkee, head of marketing for wealth management solutions – she joined Morningstar in January 2022 after serving as head of marketing for BNY Mellon Investment Management North America and BNY Mellon Securities;
- Katy Gibson, head of product, ByAllAccounts – she joined in May 2021;
- John Harris, head of US platform distribution, investment management – he joined the group in October 2021;
- Jonathan Linstra, Americas managing director, investment management – he joined in June 2021;
- Jig Patel, chief technology officer for wealth management solutions – he joined in June 2021;
- Brian Verhoeven, head of design for wealth management solutions – he joined in October 2021; and
- Bjorn Widerstedt, head of product for Morningstar Office – he joined in December 2021 after previously leading product strategy and innovation for the Black Diamond Wealth Platform.
