Dive Brief:
- Chicago-based Morningstar named Michael Holt — a roughly 16-year veteran of the investment research and financial services firm — to succeed outgoing CFO Jason Dubinsky, effective Jan. 1, according to a company release.
- Holt served most recently as the company’s chief strategy officer and will report to CEO Kunal Kapoor. Last year, Holt was also named president of the company’s research and investments group, overseeing a 400-person team responsible for Morningstar analysis and ratings.
- Kapoor called Holt a proven strategist and a leader of high-performing teams, in a statement in the release. “Mike intensely focuses on value creation and draws a direct line from strategy to outcomes and financial accountability. His extensive operational knowledge of our firm and ability to partner across the business to support continued durable growth make him the right fit for our next CFO,” Kapoor said.
Dive Insight:
The company’s decision to tap an insider to take the finance reins comes less than two months after the company announced that Dubinsky was stepping down from the post he held for seven years and leaving to pursue other interests.
Holt, 45, joined Morningstar in 2008 as an equity analyst and rose through the ranks to hold a number of senior roles, including leading the global equity research team from 2014 to 2018, according to his LinkedIn profile and a securities filing. He earned a bachelor’s in business from Indiana University, a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.
His compensation will include a $450,000 annual base salary and he is eligible to receive an annual cash bonus targeted at 100% of his base salary. He will also receive an annual grant of restricted stock units with a target value of $275,000 and an annual grant of market stock units with a target value of $825,000.
