HedgeCo.net (West Palm Beach) – Hedge fund prime broker Merlin Securities and financial tech group Gerson Lehrman, announced an exclusive research partnership which will allow Merlin to provide emerging managers with access to Gerson Lehrman Group’snetwork of more than 200,000 experts. As a result of the partnership, Gerson Lehrman Group’s platform will be much more accessible to fund managers with assets of up to $150 million.

”We are very pleased to announce this exclusive partnership with Gerson Lehrman Group,” Stephan Vermut, founder and managing partner of Merlin Securities, said,
”Gerson Lehrman Group is a trusted name and resource for generating alpha, and as leaders in our respective markets, the combination of Gerson Lehrman Group’s worldrenowned expert network with Merlin’s prime, multi-prime and analytical solutions represents an extremely powerful offering for emerging managers.”

”The decision to offer services to emerging managers was a natural one,” Alexander Saint-Amand, president and chief executive officer of Gerson Lehrman Group, said,  ”Like our current clients, emerging managers greatly value the sophisticated expertise offered through our global network. We are excited to be working with Merlin as our partner in providing Gerson Lehrman Group services to emerging managers.”

Merlin was recognized as the #1 prime broker for funds less than $1 billion by Alpha magazine’s 2008 hedge fund service provider survey for the second year running. Merlin was also the top-ranked non-algorithmic-driven firm and second overall among brokerages trading NYSE stocks as measured by arrival price, according to the 2008 Elkins/McSherry annual transaction cost survey.

Alex Akesson

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West Palm Beach (HedgeCo.net) – Hedge fund research provider, Guidepoint Global, LLC, has acquired tech and media company, Vista Research, Inc. from Standard & Poor’s.

“In the current economic climate, investors and business decision makers are increasingly seeking on-demand knowledge and insights through expert networks,” said Albert Sebag, CEO of Guidepoint Global. “Guidepoint’s acquisition of Vista, a pioneer in the expert network field, gives our clients access to one of the most comprehensive primary research networks in the world, delivered with the single-minded focus on customized service that they have come to expect.”

Guidepoint has over 130,000 global experts and a compliance framework supported by a proprietary IT platform, as well as one of the most advanced online client interfaces.

With the acquisition of Vista Research, Guidepoint Global said it will expand its team of client service professionals and recruiters to support a client base that includes many of the world’s leading private equity firms, mutual funds, hedge funds, strategy consultancies and multinational companies.

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