Financial Researcher Acquired

New York based Carbon360° Research has been acquired by media company Opalesque Ltd, which focuses on the hedge fund and alternative investments industry.

Carbon360°, led by founder Brian Shapiro, provides technology and operations research for the institutional investment community. Established in 2002, it profiles enterprise software systems and operations vendors like Sungard, Advent and Thomson Reuters, on functional, support and application development issues.

Opalesque says the buy expands its coverage of the operations, technology and market research space 'at a time when the investment management community's interests in operational risk mitigation and business sustainability are growing.' Shapiro will stay on as Senior Research Fellow and the Carbon360° name and brand identity will remain in place while the company becomes a wholly owned subsidiary of the buyer.

Opalesque was formed in 2001 and publishes 10 specialist publications looking at financial topics such as alternative investments, commodities and sovereign wealth funds. The buy will give its clients access to data on over 500 different software and service providers and a suite of selection, evaluation and market research services.

Shapiro describes Opalesque as 'one of the few media firms that has successfully taken both a quantitative and qualitative approach to assessing and reporting on industry issues.'

Matthias Knab, founder of Opalesque, says his company looks forward to supporting the compilation and distribution of Carbon360°'s 'vital research' and comments: 'By combining Carbon360°research with Opalesque's leading media capabilities and worldwide distribution, we can help asset managers and other financial institutions make more informed decisions. Carbon360° Reports like the Carbon360° Fund Administration Report or its acclaimed vendor cross-comparative Matrixes are already the authoritative selection guide for the industry.'

Web sites: www.opalesque.com and www.carbon360.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.