Morningstar counts staff turnover

Up to20 per cent of Morningstar Australia’s staff have left the company over the past three months, reportedly due to “dissatisfaction with the lack of company direction”.

An industry source toldMoney Managementthe recent resignation of Morningstar Australia’s research and development manager Amanda Crowley, follows the exit of a large number of people from the company, including its head of technology, production manager and a legal officer.

Morningstar Australia’s head of research Daisy Chee has confirmed there have been some staff departures, which has included an IT person and two other administration people.

She also confirmed the closure of one of Morningstar’s New Zealand offices, saying it follows the decision to outsource some of the company’s process functions rather than have them housed in a separate operating unit in Christchurch.

Meanwhile, Morningstar Australia’s joint managing director Bevin Desmond, an American, has not been in Australia since late last year, returning to Chicago at the end of December to spend Christmas with her family. Chee says she is expected to return to Australia at the beginning of March.

The recent staff movements follow a dramatic three-month period for Morningstar Australia, which has seen the departure of its head of publishing Deidre Keown, the very public dismissal of former managing director Graham Rich and the decision taken by Ruth Richardson to step down from her position as chair of the board of Morningstar Research.

“Our staff turnover is no higher than what it was before December last year. It has been very consistent,” Chee says.

She says with Desmond and Tao Huang taking over from Rich as joint managing directors, the company is taking a new look at its business.