NMG Buys Financial Services Researcher Brightwork

Global financial services advisory and intermediary firm NMG Consulting has acquired Brightwork Partners, which conducts annual market studies and custom research for financial services institutions in the US. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Stamford, CT-based Brightwork also manages large-scale quant studies such as segmentation research, brand analyses, service quality benchmarking and product development research. The company contacts executive respondents by telephone, while using online panels for participants, shareholders and retirees; and its qualitative work is limited to speciality executive and high net worth respondents.

The firm will become part of NMG Consulting, and its founder and Principal Merl Baker (pictured), formerly President of Louis Harris and Associates USA, will become a Partner. NMG,, which promises financial institutions strategy and implementation consulting backed by an 'information advantage' from proprietary research, acquired a minority stake in Belgian-based advanced analytics company Boobook earlier this year.

NMG Consulting CEO Mark Prichard comments: 'We see the addition as accelerating the pace at which we can better serve our clients in North America with the same end-to-end offering that we currently offer in Europe, South Africa, Asia, and Australia. Additionally, Brightwork's deep and highly regarded research expertise into the US retirement and 401k sectors will provide a platform to expand our proposition into related segments'.

Web sites: www.nmg-group.com and www.brightworkpartners.com .