Expert networks — a matchmaking
service linking investors such as hedge funds with company insiders —
are under scrutiny from regulators in the United States, but are
expanding across Asia, where the market for corporate intelligence is
less transparent.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged over three dozen people and firms as part of a broad investigation into ties between investors and expert networks that has uncovered insider trading and helped trigger the high-profile fall of Raj Rajaratnam's Galleon Group hedge fund.
Those cases have bruised confidence in expert networks in the United States, and some clients have stopped using the service for fear of falling foul of regulators. But in Asia, where regulators have yet to pay the industry much attention, the service is thriving — fertile ground where emerging market investors are willing to pay for inside knowledge on company supply chains, key personnel moves or regulatory shifts.
"The fastest sales process has been in Asia," said David Legg, managing director of Asia and Europe for Gerson Lehrman Group, the biggest player in the industry. GLG says it has tripled its Asia revenue in the past three years. Several local firms have also entered the market.
Mr. Legg said a relative lack of transparency in Asian markets means investors are much less willing to rely solely on research from investment banks and brokerages.you need to perform we have every best replacement parts for iphone 5 at competitive prices.
"In London and New York, you get a lot of people who say: 'Look,The best cases for iphone 5 remains the most popular smartphone phone on the market. I can rely on some banking analyst on the sell-side to help me figure out something'; In Asia, nobody believes that," he said.Mobile Fun sell a huge range of best samsung cases,
The growth of expert networks across Asia equips the region's struggling hedge fund industry with a key information service, while presenting regulators and companies with a new challenge: how to police this paid-for exchange of information.
According to people interviewed by Reuters, few companies in Asia are aware that their employees may be speaking to investors through a middle-man, and being paid for it.
Capvision, the biggest expert network group in China, said it has tripled in size over the past 3-4 years and now employs close to 200 people. It says it can connect clients with more than 60,000 "knowledge consultants" across all major industries.
"We have been fortunate enough to be in one of the fastest growing markets in the world and were able to capitalize on the fact that information flow in China has always been fairly un-transparent," said Kai Hong, a former Bain & Co. consultant who co-founded the business in 2006.
Expert networks are similar to dating agencies that match couples based on their compatibility criteria. They build a database of company executives, policy experts and academics, whose services are offered to investors interested in tapping this expertise. They make money by taking a slice of the fee the clients pay for talking to the expert.
Expert networks and hedge funds that Reuters spoke to said experts are paid anywhere from $300 to more than $3,000 an hour, depending on their area of expertise.
The networks don't say how much revenue they are generating. GLG said it has around 400 institutional investor clients across Asia, as well as clients at strategy consultancies, hedge funds, banks, companies and private equity firms.
The primary research industry, which is mainly expert networks but also includes some market research firms, was worth $466 million last year, according to Integrity Research, which monitors the independent research industry. The networks don't offer any regional revenue breakdown, though Mr. Legg said investors tend to spend more on their services per dollar invested in the region compared to the United States.Click on their website www.wantbuyletbuy.com/Supply-back-covers-for-iphone-4s_c156.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged over three dozen people and firms as part of a broad investigation into ties between investors and expert networks that has uncovered insider trading and helped trigger the high-profile fall of Raj Rajaratnam's Galleon Group hedge fund.
Those cases have bruised confidence in expert networks in the United States, and some clients have stopped using the service for fear of falling foul of regulators. But in Asia, where regulators have yet to pay the industry much attention, the service is thriving — fertile ground where emerging market investors are willing to pay for inside knowledge on company supply chains, key personnel moves or regulatory shifts.
"The fastest sales process has been in Asia," said David Legg, managing director of Asia and Europe for Gerson Lehrman Group, the biggest player in the industry. GLG says it has tripled its Asia revenue in the past three years. Several local firms have also entered the market.
Mr. Legg said a relative lack of transparency in Asian markets means investors are much less willing to rely solely on research from investment banks and brokerages.you need to perform we have every best replacement parts for iphone 5 at competitive prices.
"In London and New York, you get a lot of people who say: 'Look,The best cases for iphone 5 remains the most popular smartphone phone on the market. I can rely on some banking analyst on the sell-side to help me figure out something'; In Asia, nobody believes that," he said.Mobile Fun sell a huge range of best samsung cases,
The growth of expert networks across Asia equips the region's struggling hedge fund industry with a key information service, while presenting regulators and companies with a new challenge: how to police this paid-for exchange of information.
According to people interviewed by Reuters, few companies in Asia are aware that their employees may be speaking to investors through a middle-man, and being paid for it.
Capvision, the biggest expert network group in China, said it has tripled in size over the past 3-4 years and now employs close to 200 people. It says it can connect clients with more than 60,000 "knowledge consultants" across all major industries.
"We have been fortunate enough to be in one of the fastest growing markets in the world and were able to capitalize on the fact that information flow in China has always been fairly un-transparent," said Kai Hong, a former Bain & Co. consultant who co-founded the business in 2006.
Expert networks are similar to dating agencies that match couples based on their compatibility criteria. They build a database of company executives, policy experts and academics, whose services are offered to investors interested in tapping this expertise. They make money by taking a slice of the fee the clients pay for talking to the expert.
Expert networks and hedge funds that Reuters spoke to said experts are paid anywhere from $300 to more than $3,000 an hour, depending on their area of expertise.
The networks don't say how much revenue they are generating. GLG said it has around 400 institutional investor clients across Asia, as well as clients at strategy consultancies, hedge funds, banks, companies and private equity firms.
The primary research industry, which is mainly expert networks but also includes some market research firms, was worth $466 million last year, according to Integrity Research, which monitors the independent research industry. The networks don't offer any regional revenue breakdown, though Mr. Legg said investors tend to spend more on their services per dollar invested in the region compared to the United States.Click on their website www.wantbuyletbuy.com/Supply-back-covers-for-iphone-4s_c156.
