Liquidnet, BNY ConvergEx and Bloomberg Tradebook are pushing and expanding their research offerings in an attempt to bring in more assets from the buyside. “They are partnering with [research] providers in an attempt to get more clients to trade with them. It is an important strategy,” said Laurie Berke, an analyst with the TABB Group, noting that it plays into the buyside’s focus on building assets. Most of the research being provided is centered around access to corporate management.

BNY ConvergEx recently launched the Management Access Service that enables its clients to have face-to-face meetings with corporate executives to help with investment strategy. Liquidnet and Bloomberg have separately entered partnerships—Liquidnet with OTR Global and Bloomberg with Investorside Research—that allows their clients to interact with the research analysts. “The top request from portfolio managers and analysts has been corporate access for a while now. You can’t usually get that from normal research providers,” said John Adam, head of Liquidnet Insight. OTR’s global research team of more than 200 reporters/analysts combined with Liquidnet’s Management Access program gives the firm an edge. “Traditional Wall Street is not the only source of ideas,” he said.