Primary Insight

Primary Insight, LLC Opens Office in Sydney, Australia

admin — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 18:55:57 +0000

New York, August 1, 2011 – Primary Insight, LLC, a leading global provider of primary source research services to institutional investors, continues its expansion into the Asia Pacific region. With its recent office launch in Australia, PI now has research centers on four continents to efficiently and effectively provide coverage across all major institutional markets.

Consistent with previous international expansions, Co-Founder and Co-CEO Leighton Thomas has been devising a go-to market strategy in the country for the past year. Culminating in today’s office launch in Sydney, Thomas has appointed long time Managing Director Will Brockman to spearhead a team on the ground out of the new Pitt Street office focused on growing research, sales and marketing.

“We are humbled to be at the service of our growing client base in Sydney, Melbourne and beyond, as Australia has proven to be a welcoming and positive environment in every facet to conduct business,” Thomas remarks. “Recognizing a need in the marketplace that was previously untapped, combined with the world’s fastest growing pension pool of dollars, PI is fully committed to being Australia’s top ENS provider.”

About Primary Insight

Founded by industry pioneers in 2005, Primary Insight, LLC is a leading global provider of primary sources research services to institutional investors. Primary Insight emphasizes a blended delivery of custom, bespoke experts along with a strong, stable of existing experts who have all been properly vetted through its industry leading Compliance Framework. In addition, with over a decade of experience in the expert network industry, Primary Insight is well known for its leadership in providing cutting edge technologies allowing legal & compliance officers to have firm-wide, global oversight of all expert interactions with their analysts. Today, with four global research centers in New York, London, Shanghai and Sydney, Primary Insight currently serves over 100 of the world’s leading money managers. Please contact kerri@primaryinsight.com for more information.

SEC Validates Use of Expert Networks

admin — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 20:46:14 +0000

New York, March 23, 2011 –Director of Compliance Inspections and Examinations at the SEC, Carlo di Florio, validated the legal use of the expert networks in his speech to investment advisors at the Annual IA Compliance Best Practices Seminar held in Washington on March 21.

In his speech, di Florio states, “…I would like to briefly mention the ‘Expert Network’ insider trading cases that the Commission and the Department of Justice have recently brought, and that have received much recent press coverage. There are many interesting dimensions to this line of cases, and they seem to have spawned some urban legends and misunderstandings about what I believe is the staff’s intent. Contrary to some reports that I have seen, I believe these cases do not represent some inherent hostility by the Commission toward expert networks, nor do they indicate that the Commission is seeking to undermine the mosaic theory, under which analysts and investors are free to develop market insights through assembly of information from different public and private sources, so long as that information is not material nonpublic information obtained in breach of or by virtue of a duty or relationship of trust and confidence.”

Primary Insight has led the expert network industry with its best-in-class pre-trade compliance framework and sophisticated compliance technology. Understanding the issues surrounding one of the largest insider trading investigations, Primary Insight’s compliance tools have become extremely important and a top priority for the firm. It has put extensive time and resources into its Compliance Portal technology built for and designed by Legal/Compliance Officers, which provides global oversight of all firm activities as it relates to using third-party consultant interactions.

Some features and benefits include:

Global online project monitoring of all research activity.
“Approve or Deny” functionality for Legal/Compliance Officers of any subset of consultants.
Customization of Client’s own compliance procedures and requirements that is presented to consultants prior to every interaction.
Employed consultants must “opt-out” if project or joining the network poses a conflict with third-party agreements.
Complete audit trail organized by date, firm analyst, firm office/region, consultant bio, consultant company, topic of meeting and length of interaction; all customizable by client need.

http://www.integrity-research.com/cms/2011/03/23/sec-reaffirms-expert-networks-okay/

About Primary Insight
Founded by industry veterans in 2005, Primary Insight, LLC has a custom approach in providing institutional money managers access to a diverse, global network of experts across all industry sectors. Primary Insight differentiates itself through the delivery of fresh, non-commoditized experts who have had limited exposure to the investor community. Primary Insight emphasizes quality over quantity in order to provide the most appropriate experts for each investor call. The firm currently serves top institutional investors in the US, the UK and globally. Please contact Primary Insight at www.primaryinsight.com.

Primary Insight, LLC Endorses Feds’ Opinion with Respect to Use of Expert-Network Firms

admin — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:10 +0000

New York, March 7, 2011 – While recent events have put significant spotlight and increased scrutiny on expert network firms, Primary Insight, LLC supports the recent approval of the use of expert network firms by investors. In the latest public statements, US Federal Authorities have made several specific comments about the legitimacy of using expert networks. Both the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, PreetBharara, and The Director of the SEC’s Enforcement Division, Robert Khuzami agree that conducting channel checks and using expert networks to undertake legitimate investment research is perfectly legal. Primary Insight, LLC stands firm in their optimistic outlook for the expert network industry and re-assuring the investor community that third party research is still an acceptable option and the best value-add for their primary research.

Understanding the issues surrounding one of the largest insider trading investigations, Primary Insight’s compliance framework has become extremely important and a top priority for the firm. It has put extensive time and resources to cater to investor’s needs and requirements, building sophisticated tools necessary to assist them in managing their third-party consultant interactions.

http://www.businessinsider.com/feds-agree-expert-networks-okay-2011-2

About Primary Insight
Founded by industry pioneers in 2005, Primary Insight, LLC is a global leader with a unique approach in facilitating institutional money managers with direct access to fresh and, most often, custom recruited experts across all industry sectors and regions who have little to no exposure to the investor community. Primary Insight adheres to and mandates the most compliant framework in the industry as well as providing legal & compliance officers with cutting edge technology that allows for firm-wide, global oversight of all expert interactions with their analysts. Primary Insight emphasizes quality over quantity in order to provide the most appropriate experts for each investor call. The firm has three global research centers in the US, UK and Asia and currently serves over 100 of the world’s leading money managers. Please contact Primary Insight at www.primaryinsight.com.

Primary Insight, LLC Re-launches Guest Speaker Series

admin — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 00:00:41 +0000

New York, January 28, 2011 – Based on increasing client demand, Primary Insight, LLC is set to re-launch its Guest Speaker Series. Held at its new global headquarters in New York City, Primary Insight will feature leading, independent, industry experts for roundtable discussions with its investor clients. Each month, a series of unique, industry thought leaders will host the Guest Speaker Series focusing on mission-critical topics spanning all industries and sectors with actionable data and opinions that investors need to be thinking about. In addition, the Guest Speaker Series will also be held in Primary Insight’s London office for its European investor clients. Currently, 25% of Primary Insight’s client base is located in the European market and puts a significant emphasis on offering the same level of service. Beginning in February, the Guest Speaker Series will also be held in its London office for its European clients.

For its first Guest Speaker Series, Primary Insight is pleased to feature Dan Banerjee for a discussion and presentation on Wireless Capex Spending & Bandwidth Buildout Outlook for 2011 on February 9th. He is the President & CTO at Layer 3 Technologies and former Director of Technology Strategy & Business Development at Verizon Communications, Inc. (1987-2009). At Verizon, he was responsible for providing technology leadership for various strategic initiatives (FTTH, network evolution, LTE), evaluating M&A and venture funding opportunities, and working with the technology organizations of Verizon business units evaluating equipment vendors and influencing purchasing decisions. Topics he will cover include carrier capex, build out plans and capex allocation; wireless data growth & backhaul congestion; wireline bandwidth growth; 4G and 40G/100G rollouts; and regulatory issues.

David DeRose, Managing Director & Co-Founder, says, “The re-launch of Primary Insight’s Guest Speaker Series at our new global headquarters is designed to add value with fresh and unique industry thought-leaders for our 100 plus global clients. We will only focus our topics and agendas that produce actionable take-aways for client. And, our goal is to introduce fresh experts who have had little to no exposure to the investor community therefore providing an information edge for our clients. Initial topics will span a variety of themes from wireless capex spending, to beltway-regulatory issues that matter most for investors to unrealized opportunities in emerging markets such as Mongolia.”

Primary Insight, LLC Latest Release of Compliance Portal for Clients

admin — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 00:00:15 +0000

New York, December 9, 2010 – Primary Insight, LLC is pleased to announce the latest release of its first-in-class, Compliance Portal technology, “designed by clients, for clients” that is unmatched in the industry today.

While recent events have put significant media spotlight on expert networks, Primary Insight, LLC, since inception in 2005, has made it a priority to strategize and collaborate with clients and invest heavily in developing a transparent Compliance Framework along with the sophisticated tools necessary to assist them in managing their third-party consultant interactions.

The end result is a first-in-class Compliance Portal technology built for and designed by Legal/Compliance Officers, that provides global oversight of all firm activities as it relates to using third-party consultants.

Some features and benefits include:

Global online project monitoring of all research activity
“Approve or Deny” functionality for Legal/Compliance Officers of any subset of consultants
Customization of Client’s own compliance procedures and requirements that is presented to consultants prior to every interaction
Employed consultants must “opt-out” if project or joining the network poses a conflict with third-party agreements
Complete audit trail organized by date, firm analyst, firm office/region, consultant bio, consultant company, topic of meeting and length of interaction; all customizable by client need

Managing Partner & Co-Founder, David DeRose, says,

“With one of the most experienced executive management teams in the industry today, we have spent the better part of the last 9 years leading, educating and delivering a value add to our 100 plus global clients. Today, our unmatched Compliance Framework in conjunction with our latest Compliance Portal release provides enhanced transparency and value for clients in a variety of ways.

Furthermore, the audit trail, workflow management and legal/compliance oversight solutions included within our Compliance Portal absolutely indicate that using Primary Insight is a far better information gathering method than those which exist outside of an expert network.”

Primary Insight, LLC Moves to New Global Headquarters and Expands European & Asian Research Centers

admin — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 00:00:49 +0000

New York, November 19, 2010 – Primary Insight, LLC, a global expert network firm, signed a 6 year lease for their new global headquarters at 150 E. 52nd St in New York City. The new HQ is 7,500 square feet and double the size of their previous space due to its growing staff and increasing client base. Primary Insight recently reached a milestone of 100 clients and since its Management Buyout in April, 2009, has seen a 50% growth in staff across its 3 research markets.

Primary Insight’s Shanghai office is growing exponentially, tripling its staff over 2010 as a result of the emerging Asian client base and investor demand for primary research in Asia. Since the opening of the Shanghai office, the number of Asia-based consultations has increased from less than1% to 20% of all utilization. Global client demand by region is currently 60% US interest, 20% Europe interest and 20% Asia interest. Asia and Europe now represent a significant portion of the global network usage.

Primary Insight’s London research center has doubled in staff at 42 Brook Street and continues to increase its Europe-based investment clients. “Having recently renewed our lease in London, we continue to remain very bullish on client and project growth across European markets. With the London research center firmly in place, I will now turn my attention in 2011 to expanding our Asian and South American client base” says Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Leighton Thomas.

Primary Insight Expands Coverage in Asia and Europe

admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 00:00:42 +0000

New York, April 1, 2010 – Primary Insight, LLC, a global expert network firm headquartered in Manhattan, has grown significantly since its Management Buyout in 2009, including a nearly 50% increase in its client base. Having opened offices in Shanghai and London in 2009, Primary Insight’s coverage of investors with international research interests has spearheaded this growth.

The Shanghai office has tripled in staff since inception, in order to respond to U.S. and UK investors’ growing demand for primary research in Asia. ”Over the past year, PI has experienced a rapid increase in project flow for China and other emerging markets. Demand is coming not only from U.S. and U.K. investors but now also from Asia-based funds domiciled in Hong Kong, Singapore and mainland China”, said David DeRose, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Primary Insight. In addition to phone consultations, the product offerings of PI in China include on-site meetings where investors who travel to Asia are able to meet live with experts across all sectors in major cities including Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, and Taipei.

To handle European demand, Primary Insight recently moved the London office to a larger space at 42 Brook Street, where it is led by Managing Partner and Co-Founder Leighton Thomas. “Having a solid London team in place is essential to our strategy of giving our international clients fast access to the best, most knowledgeable experts throughout Europe”, said Thomas. “We remain committed to reaching investors not only in the UK, but across what we believe is a very under-served market throughout continental Europe.”

Michael Mayhew, Chairman of research advisory firm Integrity Research Associates explains, “Globally, Integrity continues to see a proliferation of the use of expert networks into many formerly untapped regions such as Central Europe and Asia. Primary Insight is one player who is successfully executing on this model.”

Primary Insight Opens Offices in London and Shanghai

admin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:31 +0000

New York, August 11, 2009 – Primary Insight, LLC, a leading provider of expert network services to institutional investors globally, announced today that it has opened offices in London and Shanghai. Headquartered in midtown Manhattan, Primary Insight will now be able to provide ground level support to its clients in the UK and Asia.

Co-founder and Managing Partner Leighton Thomas will divide his time between NYC and London in order to focus on Primary Insight’s European growth. “With 25% of our current client base in London, it was only a matter of time before we made a permanent commitment to be on the ground in Europe”, says Thomas. “Having a London office immediately helps us better service our existing clients, and affords us the ability to effectively explore new markets such as Frankfurt and Geneva.”

The Shanghai office will be headed up by the Managing Director of Asia, Fany Fang, a seasoned veteran within the expert network industry. Said Co-founder and Managing Partner David DeRose, “The addition of Fany and her team has provided Primary Insight’s clients with an instant value-add to their research needs in Asia, with specific focus on Chinese and Korean markets.”