Morningstar boosts focus on wealth management

Daniel Needham will head up the new unit, which will include existing functions such as managed portfolios, portfolio management software and investment data aggregation.

Morningstar Inc. said Thursday it was launching a new business unit to tighten its focus on wealth management.

Morningstar already offers a plethora of services for financial advisers, but the new group will bring under one roof several existing functions, including managed portfolios, portfolio management software and investment data aggregation, the company said in a statement.

Daniel Needham will serve as president of the new unit, which will be called Wealth Management Solutions. Needham is the president and chief investment officer of Morningstar’s Investment Management Group.

Later this year, Morningstar Investment Services plans to launch a direct indexing capability on its turnkey asset management platform, or TAMP, for advisers, the company said, marking the first new product launch for the Wealth Management Solutions group.

Morningstar also said that in the past year it has hired eight various industry professionals who will also be part of the new group focusing on financial advisers.

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