Morningstar to Get New Head of Research

Investment research firm Morningstar announced Don Phillips will step down in January 2014 as head of research. The firm has already named Haywood Kelly as his successor.

Kelly currently works as Morningstar’s head of equity, credit and structured credit research. Phillips will remain with Morningstar as a managing director and continue serving on the company’s board of directors. Both Phillips and Kelly will report to Morningstar founder and CEO Joe Mansueto.

Phillips joined Morningstar as the firm’s first mutual fund analyst back in 1986, two years after the company’s founding. (See “Don Phillips: Legend.”) Mansueto said Phillips will also continue to work closely with his successor, Kelly, to help deliver new research initiatives.

Phillips is known for helping develop the Morningstar Style Box, the Morningstar Rating and other proprietary innovations used widely across the industry. He has served in a variety of leadership roles in his time at Morningstar and been a member of the board of directors since 1999.

Kelly is also a long-time Morningstar employee, currently in his 22nd year with the research firm. He previously led efforts to expand Morningstar’s equity research coverage, launched corporate credit ratings products and developed the firm’s structured credit unit. He also served as editor of Morningstar StockInvestor.

Kelly holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. Most recently, he took on oversight of Morningstar’s equity data area.

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