A veteran Morningstar leader is taking over a publicly traded, midwestern mutual fund firm with $21.6 billion in AUM.

Heather E. Brilliant Diamond Hill Investment Group, Inc. Incoming President and CEO

On Wednesday, James Laird, chair of the board of directors of Diamond Hill Investment Group [profile], confirmed that Heather Brilliant will join the Columbus, Ohio-based asset manager in September as president and CEO. Brilliant will succeed Chris Bingaman, who will stay on as PM for the Diamond Hill Long-Short Fund.

Columbus Business First picked up the news.

New York City-based Brilliant most recently served as managing director and CEO in the Americas of First State Investments and acting chief operating officer of Colonial First State Global Asset Management (First State's $143.8-billion-AUM Australian parent, which in turn is being acquired by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation).

Laird confirms that Brilliant and her family will be heading to Diamond Hill's hometown in central Ohio. And Laird lauds Brilliant for the latter's "in-depth understanding of the investment management industry and significant leadership experience."

"Our industry is undergoing a period of significant change, and we are confident in Heather's ability to lead us into the future," Laird states. "We appreciate Chris Bingaman's efforts over the past four years serving as both CEO and portfolio manager on the Long-Short Fund and we look forward to his continued contribution to the investment team."

Brilliant, an alumna of the University of Chicago's Booth School of Business and of Northwestern University, joined First State in 2017 and rose to CEO of the Americas this spring. Prior to that she spent more than 12 years at Morningstar, rising to CEO of its Australasia business. Earlier, she worked at BofA, Driehaus, and Coghill. She has been on the CFA Institute's board for nearly six years, and last September she rose to chair that board.

Bingaman, an alumnus of the University of Notre Dame and of Hillsdale College, joined Diamond Hill in 2001. He rose to co-chief investment officer in 2011, to president in 2014, and to CEO in 2016. Before joining Diamond Hill he worked at Nationwide, Dillon Capital Management, First Third, and First Chicago NBD.

Editor's Note: A prior version of this story mischaracterized Colonial First State Global Asset Management's (CFSGAM) relationship with Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking Corporation (MUTB). CFSGAM is currently owned by Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), yet MUTB has agreed to acquire CFSGAM from CBA. That deal has not yet closed. 

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