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Donald James Phillips II (!) resigns as head of research at Morningstar

David_Snowball
edited October 2013 in Fund Discussions
The press release begins:
Morningstar ... today announced that Don Phillips will be stepping down as head of the company’s Research group after the first of the year. Haywood Kelly, currently head of equity, credit, and structured credit research, will assume Phillips’ responsibilities as global head of Research, effective Jan. 1, 2014. Phillips will be a managing director and remain a member of the board of directors. Both Phillips and Kelly will report to Joe Mansueto, founder, chairman, and CEO.
It's a "life transition," not retirement. Mr. Phillips:
I’ve often said that, to me, Morningstar is a cause as well as a company. I told Joe that I’d like to step back, but I still want to contribute to Morningstar’s success. He has always been incredibly supportive, and this time was no exception.
They describe Mr. Phillips as having "served in a variety of leadership roles at Morningstar." Indeed he has, though I'm not quite sure how to describe the trajectory of his career:

  • 1986, hired as Morningstar's first funds analyst

  • 1991-1996, publisher of Morningstar Mutual Funds

  • 1996-1998, president of Morningstar

  • 1998-2000, CEO of Morningstar

  • 2000- , Managing Director of Corporate Strategy Research and Communications

  • 2009-2014, president of fund research

  • 2012-2014, president of the Investment Research division

I'm not entirely sure what a Managing Director does, but they make $962,768 for the effort (per BusinessWeek).

This might all be an endorsement of luck and the liberal arts: Mr. Phillips' B.A. and M.A. are both in literature.

For what interest it holds,

David

Comments

  • CharlesCharles
    edited October 2013
    Morningstar is a cause as well as a company...
    I'll keep reminding myself of that.

    Thanks David.
  • AndyJ
    edited October 2013
    But he didn't say what the cause is.
  • BobCBobC
    In the end, the cause is to be a successful business. That means more revenue every year from advertising, to selling their products, to promoting their latest 'discovery', to continuing to sell their star ratings, style boxes, and analyst predictions. There have been some competitors, but none have lasted or have been as good at making money as M*.
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