Morningstar Hires Director of ABS Rating Biz Development

Morningstar Credit Ratings hired Peter Danna as director of business development for asset-backed securities ratings.

He will be responsible for managing all relationships with ABS issuers and investors and ensuring awareness and understanding of Morningstar’s ABS ratings business and methodologies. He is based in New York City and reports to Joseph Petro, Morningstar's chief operating officer. 

Danna has more that 20 years of experience in structured finance and joins the rating agency from Radian Asset Assurance where he was senior vice president of risk management. He also worked for Munich Re America, Standard & Poor’s, and Arbor National Mortgage. 

For Morningstar, Danna’s hire is the next step toward establishing itself as a major player in the ABS space. In June 2014, the rating agency received designation as a National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) credit rating provider for ABS. The designation exempts insurance companies, which are big investors in ABS, buying Morningstar rated ABS, from making a filing for the respective securities with the NAIC’s Security and Valuation Office.

The following September, Morningstar published its U.S. ABS ratings methodology, outlining the principles the company’s analysts apply when rating and monitoring ABS transactions.