New York – Instinet is adding three new independent research providers to its distribution platform, solidifying its position as a leading marketer of third party research. The new firms being marketed exclusively by Instinet are Alternative Energy Investing, Public Insight and Trusted Sources, specialists in the green tech, policy research and emerging markets respectively. All are high quality firms in three of the hottest research sectors.
New Additions
Public Insight LP is an expert network focused on sourcing ex-government employees, lobbyists and others knowledgeable about public policy. Founded in 2007 by Jonathan Spalter, ex-CIO of the US Information Agency, it intersects two of the hottest areas of alternative research: policy research and expert networks. It also fills a gap in Instinet’s portfolio since they stopped distributing Potomac Research, another policy research firm. As we reported in a blog in June, Potomac Research experienced significant turnover around the time that Instinet stopped distributing them. They have subsequently re-staffed, and hired their own in-house sales team.
London-based Trusted Sources draws on experts in emerging markets for its insights into the BRIC countries. Unlike an expert network, the analysts at Trusted Sources are the ones interacting with the experts, not clients. The firm was founded in 2006 by former investment bankers and journalists to leverage their connections within the BRIC markets. The agreement with Instinet covers North American distribution only because the firm has its own sales force in London covering the rest of the world and already works with other agents on a non-exclusive basis including Enzard Limited, based in Hong Kong.
Alternative Energy Investing was started in 2005 by Joseph Berwind who was a partner in a small hedge fund, Bourgeon Capital Management LLC. The firm specializes in US clean tech firms.
Instinet’s Exclusives
Instinet ‘relaunched’ its alternative research platform in March, branding its exclusive distribution partnerships as ‘Instinet Access’. At the time, it had five partnerships:
• Cross Industrial Research – Automotive & Industrial
• HMCG – Retail and Consumer Products
• IDC Tech Investor – Technology & Telecom
• Potomac Research Group – Legislative & Regulatory
• Ross Smith Energy Group – Oil and Gas E&P
Instinet said it would double the relationships in its Access program to ten by year end and fifteen or so over the next couple of years. It added Decision Economics, Allen Sinai’s economics shop, in May but stopped distributing Potomac Research, which set up its own sales team, and Cross Industrial Research, the investment research arm of Ducker Worldwide an industry consulting and data firm. With the number of firms currently at seven, it looks like Instinet will fall short of the goal for 10 Access partners by year end. It is currently looking for providers in healthcare, financials, industrials and metals.
Instinet’s Platform
Instinet originally launched its platform in 2004 and, along with Capital Institutional Services (CAPIS), was one of the first firms to focus on distributing alternative research. Last March, it added a medium touch offering, Instinet Platinum, which offers marketing and administrative tools for alternative providers. The tools include access to bigdough, a prospecting database, at a reduced cost; market analysis on target buy-side markets (including AUM, portfolio turnover, investment style); and outsourcing services for billing, collections, payroll, facilities management and taxes.
Instinet’s platform fared well in the Greenwich Associates’ 2009 US Equity Analysts Study, where it was tied for second as most used alternative research platforms (Integrity Research received honorable mention, tied for 6th with Goldman Sachs’ Hudson Street platform). With the addition of the three latest research firms, we suspect that Instinet is well positioned for the 2010 survey.
Full press release below:
Instinet Adds Three Independent Research Providers
Alternative Energy Investing, Public Insight and Trusted Sources added to Instinet Access program.
NEW YORK – December 14, 2009 – Instinet Incorporated, a global leader in electronic trading and agency-only brokerage services, today announced that its U.S. agency-brokerage subsidiary, Instinet, LLC, has expanded its Instinet Access™ program by adding three new independent, third-party research providers – Alternative Energy Investing, Public Insight and Trusted Sources. Through the program, Instinet provides sales and marketing services for each firm’s research products to a wide range of institutional clients, including Instinet’s global trading client base of 1,500+ firms.
- Alternative Energy Investing: Alternative Energy Investing, LLC (AEI) is an independent research firm focused on energy technology and renewable fuels, the fastest-growing clean tech sectors. AEI’s key research goals are to identify actionable stock catalysts, pick key trends and technologies and locate fault lines in consensus thinking. AEI covers about 100 public and private companies with one of the most qualified research teams in alternative energy. www.alternativeenergyinvesting.net
- Public Insight: Public Insight, LP (PI) helps institutional investors evaluate the impact of regulation and policy by giving them direct access to independent experts covering all highly regulated investment sectors at the federal, state and local levels in the United States, and in key markets internationally. Experts are individually and selectively recruited, and are proprietary to Public Insight. PI also undertakes custom surveys, forecasting and risk-monitoring projects on behalf of clients as part of its comprehensive investment research solution in the regulatory/policy space. www.publicinsightlp.com
- Trusted Sources: Trusted Sources UK Ltd. (TS) is an independent, top-down emerging markets research provider focused on understanding the investment implications of public policy in the BRICs, where government action is a major driver. Using in-house country experts and on-the-ground “trusted sources”, TS helps clients frame investment opportunities with greater confidence. TS’ unique methodology enables it to spot evolving trends early, pinpoint non-consensus themes and consistently offer new and original perspectives to investors. www.trustedsources.co.uk
“We’re pleased to expand the Instinet Access roster through the addition of these three high-quality providers focusing, respectively, on alternative energy, U.S. public policy and emerging markets, which are three of today’s most sought after research coverage areas,” said Jonathan Kellner, President of Instinet, LLC. “The buyside’s appetite for independent research has never been greater, and as such we view our research partners as key to Instinet’s strategic growth and development.”
The research additions bring to seven the number of independent providers in the Instinet Access program, which supports high-quality research providers with sales and marketing, account coverage, payment facilitation and other services across Instinet’s institutional client base and beyond. Instinet launched the Access program in 2004 and continues to actively expand it, recruiting new providers selectively in different sectors and methodologies