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Deals and People January 11, 2019
Institutional Shareholder Services and Strategic Insight Join Forces
SI’s data sets will complement ISS Analytics’ data intelligence.
Reported by Rebecca Moore
Institutional Shareholder Services Inc. (ISS), provider of end-to-end responsible investment and governance solutions to the global financial community, has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Strategic Insight (SI), provider of data, business intelligence and research to the global investment management community.
The transaction is expected to close early in the first quarter, subject to customary closing conditions. Both firms are owned by Genstar Capital.
Headquartered in New York with 10 additional locations across the globe, Strategic Insight delivers data and market intelligence, including investment flow data, investment product characteristics, adviser and fund analysis, ratings, events and editorial content for investment managers, asset owners and custodians.
Strategic Insight’s extensive data sets will enhance ISS Analytics, the data intelligence arm of ISS. That business today tracks more than 13.5 million individual data points across a broad universe of global companies. A recent analysis by Deloitte’s Center for Financial Services suggests that alternative and traditional data will likely transform active investment management over the coming years and that firms failing to update investment processes to incorporate such data could risk falling behind peers.
Joel Mandelbaum, president and CEO of Strategic Insight, says the acquisition will enable the firm to accelerate new product offerings, while ISS President and CEO Gary Retelny says, “ISS will continue to expand our core governance, analytics and ESG [environmental, social and governance] solutions for investment management and front-office professionals.”
“ISS’ acquisition of Strategic Insight will greatly benefit institutional and retail investors who increasingly rely on proprietary data and analytical tools to identify investment opportunities and to compete effectively in a rapidly changing marketplace,” says Tony Salewski, managing director with Genstar Capital.