New York – As part of the Goldman Research Xpress platform, Investars come on board by reaching agreement with Goldman to provide customizable research evaluation services to clients of the platform. One of the real strengths of the Investars research evaluation approach is its flexibility and robustness. Goldman has made a minority investment in Investars to cement this relationship.
The Investars “Insight” product allows customers to view standard performance information, modify it slightly, or receive a fully engineered system utilizing their own metrics or a mix of standard metrics and custom metrics. This means that the results of the Insight product could be used for RP to RP evaluation, analyst to analyst evaluation or it could be used to evaluate internal research as a tool to help set analyst compensation. The product also has the capability to contain research evaluation and the broker vote within the same service.
We include the press Release below:
Investars Insight to be Marketed by Goldman Sachs
Tuesday February 6, 9:55 am ET
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–‘Investars Insight’, Investars’ flagship research aggregation, broker evaluation, knowledge management, and data visualization product, will be marketed by Goldman Sachs. ‘Insight’ is designed meet the demand among sophisticated institutional investors for a one-stop-shop, single point of service, off-the-shelf but fully customizable research evaluation and knowledge management product.
“Institutional investors use research differently and therefore value different aspects of research. ‘Investars Insight’ enables each institution to evaluate and manage research based on its own criteria and needs.” said Kei Kianpoor, CEO of Investars. “We are flattered to be chosen as Goldman Sachs’ solution provider in our space and look forward to providing Goldman Sachs’ sophisticated but diverse client-base with the industry’s most robust fully customizable research management and evaluation solution.”
“‘Investars Insight’ will appeal to investors interested in customizable research evaluation and delivery,” said Michael Sanders, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs. “Through ‘Investars Insight’ we can provide our clients with access to a universe of alternative valuation methodologies and investment opinions, which can be tracked for their relevance and accuracy, in one integrated package customized according to the investment style and mandate of each institution.” Goldman Sachs has made a minority investment in Investars.
Insight is composed of various building blocks that can be used either independently or in a fully scaled, end-to-end solution. Some institutional investors may value Insight’s customizable broker-vote system, or its data visualization and decision support tools. Others may find more value in Insight’s customized internal and external research performance measurement metrics, its cutting-edge knowledge management and data-visualization system, or its integrated expert network content aggregation and evaluation tools.
“Insight’s analytics also provide investors with intelligence into the fundamental characteristics, styles and most importantly the value propositions of some of the world’s top alternative research providers.” said John Eagleton, President of Investars. “Depending on their specific needs clients may use Insight on a standalone basis, or opt for bundled consulting services from relevant experts to facilitate the rollout of a custom-tailored product.”
Investars Insight’s integrated internal and external research evaluation metrics, permission-based research delivery platform, data visualization, teleconferencing and knowledge management features make it a valuable proposition to not only institutional investors, but also research content providers interested in fully articulating the value of their products as it pertains to the investment style, mandate and needs of each institutional client.
Disclosure: Integrity Research has an arrangement with Investars to use their performance information as part of Integrity’s ResearchSelect research evaluation service. There are currently a handful of Equity Research Performance measurement systems in the US.
Comment Bill George:
Also see the Integrity Research Article on February 4, describing Hudson Street Research.
At what point do these investments in independent research providers and the mutual admiration of the partners to the arrangement and the value of the introductions to Goldman’s “sophisticated but diverse client base” begin to impinge on objectivity and independence?
Sounds like a nother opportunity for “the Chinese Wall”
You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief,
They may call you doctor or they may call you chief
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
Bob Dylan lyrics “Gotta Serve Somebody”