Paul Kaplan has been named director of research for Morningstar Canada, Chicago-based Morningstar, Inc. announced Thursday.
Kaplan most recently served as director of quantitative research for Morningstar Europe. He will report to Scott Mackenzie, president and CEO of Morningstar Canada.
“Paul is a prominent thought leader in asset allocation and quantitative analysis and will be a valuable addition to the Canadian research team,” Mackenzie said. “In his new role, he will continue to develop methodologies for Morningstar’s fund analysis and indexes as well as assist in the creation of tools for advisors and retail investors globally. He will also focus on Canadian-specific research.”
Before joining Morningstar in 1999 as director of quantitative research, Kaplan was vice president and chief economist for Ibbotson Associates, a leading expert on asset-allocation, which Morningstar acquired in 2006. Kaplan also served on the faculty of Northwestern University during the 1980s where he taught international finance and statistics. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and computer science from New York University a master’s degree and doctorate in economics from Northwestern University, and the Chartered Financial Analysts (CFA) designation.
Over the past 13 years, Kaplan has held a number of research roles at Morningstar. He led development of the current version of the Morningstar Rating for funds (the “star rating”) and the calculations behind the current version of the Morningstar Style Box as well as other fund analysis tools. He also developed the methodology behind the firm’s online retirement-planning service, and conducted research on asset allocation, portfolio construction, and stock and mutual-fund analysis.