Morningstar Appoints Anthony Serhan Chief Executive Officer of Australasian Business

CHICAGO and SYDNEY, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Morningstar, Inc. (Nasdaq: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment research, today announced that it has appointed Anthony Serhan as chief executive officer of Morningstar Australasia Pty Ltd.

Serhan was previously managing director of Ibbotson Associates Australia, a Morningstar company, where he was responsible for leading the business, developing business strategy, and overseeing its implementation. Before that, he was head of adviser and research for Morningstar Australasia, responsible for developing and managing fund research processes, adviser products, and consulting services. He joined Morningstar in 2003 and has more than 20 years' financial services experience in both the institutional and retail environments.

Serhan will remain a director of Ibbotson Associates Australia, which will now be led by Daniel Needham, the firm's longstanding chief investment officer.

"Anthony was a great choice to lead our Australian and New Zealand business," said Bevin Desmond, president of international operations and global human resources for Morningstar, Inc. "His knowledge of the local market, demonstrated leadership skills, and most importantly clear understanding of Morningstar's mission of helping investors achieve their goals made him the standout candidate."

"Our Australasian business has come a long way over the past eight years, and I'm delighted to be taking on the CEO role at this time in our growth," Anthony Serhan said. "We now publish analyst research on 275 Australian and New Zealand listed companies and more than 4,000 managed funds. Our website is a leading destination for retail investors. And we continue to work towards extending our coverage of investment types, such as our new analyst research on exchange-traded funds.

"While many people are familiar with individual parts of Morningstar, the opportunity for our business is to combine these components into an even stronger solution for our clients. I look forward to leading our staff in their continuing efforts to meet the many and varied needs of our individual, adviser, and institutional clients," Serhan said.

Morningstar established its business in Australia and New Zealand in 1999, and subsequently acquired Aspect Huntley, Aegis Equities Research, and Intech (now Ibbotson Associates). The firm's flagship products include the Morningstar.com.au website for retail investors; Morningstar Adviser Workstation™, a complete practice and portfolio management platform for financial advisers; Morningstar Direct™, a web-based global research platform that connects institutional investment professionals directly to Morningstar's full universe of investment research and data; and Morningstar Adviser Research Centre. The company also publishes trade magazines and an investor newsletter. The firm's consulting arm, Ibbotson Associates Australia, is a provider of asset allocation, manager selection, and portfolio construction services to superannuation funds, institutions, and financial planners.

About Morningstar Australasia and Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar Australasia is a subsidiary of Morningstar, Inc., a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. The company offers an extensive line of Internet, software, and print-based products and services for individuals, financial advisers, and institutions. Morningstar provides data on approximately 360,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 4 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. The company has operations in 21 countries.

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SOURCE Morningstar, Inc.