A spokesperson for Morningstar said the move follows a review of the company’s growth prospects and existing and potential sales activity in New Zealand.
“Key decision-makers have indicated the need to manage business development and sales for both countries as one,” he said.
“We’ve identified growth opportunities from the major New Zealand financial institutions, most of which are headquartered in Australia.”
Mr Gray also added the research house’s sales and client relationship management currently “draw heavily” on knowledge from its client solutions and product teams based in Sydney.
“On the stock research side, we believe that having New Zealand companies covered out of our specialist teams in Sydney will lead to deeper sector-focused analysis,” he said.
As a result of the changes, which Morningstar New Zealand head of sales Stuart Auld is assisting with, a number of Morningstar employees are in discussion with the research house about future roles.
“[Mr] Auld is working with us to manage the transition and we’re in discussions with him about a potential part-time relationship management position,” Mr Gray said.
“We’re discussing other potential opportunities within our business with equity analyst Nachi Moghe.
“Greg [Bunkall] is continuing in his data role (regional portfolio acquisition leader) and Elliot [Smith] (fund research analyst) is continuing to work as part of our trans-Tasman fund manager research team, undertaking research on New Zealand funds,” he said.
