Morningstar acquires PlanPlus Global

Morningstar, Inc., based in Chicago, Ill., has reached an agreement to acquire PlanPlus Global, the investment research firm said in a release on Tuesday.

Toronto-based PlanPlus Global is a financial-planning and risk-profiling software firm with more than 10,000 subscribers in more than 35 countries, the release said. The agreement expands Morningstar’s financial-planning capabilities for advisors, following its acquisition of Australia-based AdviserLogic late last year.

The acquisition is “an investment for growth in the financial-planning arena,” said Scott Mackenzie, president and CEO at Morningstar Canada, in the release.

He said he expects financial planning and risk profiling to become “more important as planning grows more central to the value advisors deliver to clients and as the industry puts more focus on ensuring investment plans are best suited for each client’s unique goals and circumstances.”

Shawn Brayman, founder and CEO of PlanPlus Global, said in the release that Morningstar was “the perfect fit” to help PlanPlus scale its solutions and enhance its value to users globally.

Brayman, along with PlanPlus Global’s leadership team and more than 40 employees, is expected to join Morningstar following the acquisition, which will close in the second quarter, the release said.

Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

Morningstar has worked with PlanPlus for more than a decade. The firm said it will continue to offer PlanPlus Global’s FinaMetrica Profiler as a stand-alone risk-profiling tool in global markets where it’s offered today. The profiler uses a psychometric risk tolerance assessment to help advisors offer advice to clients.

The firm also said it sees opportunity to integrate the profiler into its existing solutions, such as Morningstar Advisor Workstation for advisors in Canada and the U.S.

Morningstar intends to add ProPlanner, PlanPlus Global’s financial-planning solution, to its suite of offerings in Canada. ProPlanner helps advisors offer advice that aligns the personal circumstances and objectives of each client with markets conditions.

In Australia, AdviserLogic will remain Morningstar’s lead financial planning offering.

Maddie Johnson

Maddie is a freelance writer and editor who has been reporting for Advisor.ca since 2019.