Nasdaq Acquires Buy-Side Analytics Provider eVestment

eVestment provides investors with a database of around 2,800 individual data points on more than 74,000 investment vehicles that can be used for both traditional and alternative strategies. The vendor has more than 2,000 clients, including asset managers, pension funds and consulting firms.

Nasdaq officials say the acquisition will strengthen the exchange’s global information services business, expand its buy side-relationships and grow its ability to provide proprietary analytics to clients. Nasdaq’s data and index operations, coupled with eVestment’s institutional focus, will result in the creation of new solutions and expanded distribution to support the asset management community, exchange officials say.

Earlier this year, the exchange launched the Nasdaq Analytics Hub, a platform that provides buy-side firms with investment signals derived from structured and unstructured data. Buy-side participants can access to a suite of back-tested, normalized data and analytics to augment their existing investment strategies. During an analyst call discussing the exchange’s second-quarter results, Nasdaq chief executive Adena Friedman singled out the Hub and increasing demand from asset management clients for new data products as a “long-term opportunity” for the exchange. 

“The investment management community is relying increasingly on independent data and advanced analytics to drive their key business decisions, including asset allocation and investment choices. eVestment is the definitive source from asset managers of critical fund-level and investment-level data and analytics to enable asset owners to make informed decisions,”  Friedman says in a statement.

“We view our partnership with eVestment as a means of strengthening Nasdaq’s support of the investment management industry through enhanced technology and service offerings. Additionally, Nasdaq’s global distribution will create opportunities to propel eVestment’s proprietary offering around the globe, creating a compelling value proposition for our clients and investors,” she adds.

The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017.