Thomson Reuters Buys a Canadian Fund Tracker for Lipper
Reported by Sean Hanna, Editor in Chief
If you sponsor a mutual fund in Canada you have a new tracker. Thomson Reuters has crossed the St. Lawrence to take over The Globe & Mail's mutual fund database.
Terms and pricing on the deal were not disclosed.
John Fennelly, managing director and head of Wealth Management at Thomson Reuters stated that the purchase reinforces its position as the "leading provider of fund intelligence."
The newspaper's database of Canadian mutual funds adds information on 13,600 mutual funds to Thomson Reuters' own database. Thomson Reuters sells mutual fund data throughout the world through its Lipper arm. The new properties fall under the supervision of Lars Asplund, managing director of Lipper.
The deal covers The Globe’s database of Canadian mutual funds, the paper's fund fact sheet business; and its mutual fund and equity data feed businesses. The data is currently licensed to Canadian insurance companies, fund management firms and other institutions as well as appearing in The Globe and Mail newspaper, as well as magazines and digital properties such as Globeadvisor, Globe Investor Gold, Tracker and ProStation.
Company Press Release
Thomson Reuters Expands Lipper Content through the Acquisition of The Globe and Mail’s Canadian Mutual Fund Database
NEW YORK, June 1, 2012 – Thomson Reuters, the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals, today announced that it has acquired the mutual fund database of The Globe and Mail (The Globe), Canada’s leading newspaper and mutual fund information service provider. The acquisition broadens Thomson Reuters content and expertise in Canada and underscores its commitment to expand further its high-value mutual fund data and strategic research capabilities via its Lipper business.
The three acquired assets are part of The Globe’s offerings for key financial firms in the Canadian fund management market. They include The Globe’s database of Canadian mutual funds which tracks over 13,600 open-end, closed-end and exchange traded funds; their fund fact sheet business; and their mutual fund and equity data feed businesses. Canadian insurance companies, fund management firms and other institutions license The Globe’s mutual fund content via data feeds and/or fund fact sheets. The content is also published in The Globe and Mail newspaper, and magazines and digital properties such as Globeadvisor, Globe Investor Gold, Tracker and ProStation, which are targeted at individual investors and financial advisors.
"The Globe and Mail has built a leading Canadian mutual fund database, which Thomson Reuters sees as being central to its goal to grow and expand its existing Lipper business in this region," said John Fennelly, managing director and head of Wealth Management at Thomson Reuters. "This acquisition will help us to provide additional customer value and reinforce our position as the leading provider of fund intelligence."
"We are delighted to welcome customers of The Globe and Mail's mutual fund database to the breadth of innovative solutions offered by Lipper," said Lars Asplund, managing director of Lipper. "Lipper solutions are designed for financial professionals engaged in fund selection, performance analysis, product management and marketing. Combining high-quality, comprehensive global fund coverage with robust capabilities for detailed analysis and reporting, these will now be made available to The Globe's customers."
Following the acquisition, The Globe's customers will benefit from the creation of best-in-class solutions through the combination of the enhanced mutual fund content, Lipper Leaders fund ratings, Lipper research and the Lipper for Investment Management desktop product. Coupled with Thomson Reuters philosophy of offering bespoke solutions to help firms differentiate themselves, The Globe's customers will enjoy the integration of their mutual fund content into appropriate Thomson Reuters products which will allow access to a more integrated suite of financial information and functionality. Existing Thomson Reuters customers will benefit from having expanded and more detailed Canadian mutual fund content across Lipper and other Thomson Reuters products.
"The Globe and Mail has risen to its current position as the leader in Canadian mutual fund information through years of hard work and investment, and we're delighted that this legacy will continue and grow under Thomson Reuters," said Phillip Crawley, Publisher and CEO of The Globe and Mail. "We look forward to continuing to serve our longstanding mutual fund information clients in new ways as we concentrate on our core business as Canada’s most trusted source of news."
Lipper, a Thomson Reuters company, is a global leader in supplying mutual fund information, analytical tools, and commentary. Lipper's benchmarking and classifications are widely recognized as the industry standard by asset managers, fund companies and financial intermediaries.
Thomson Reuters Wealth Management is the leading provider of information services and transaction processing solutions to the professional wealth management and advice-led investment communities. Its innovative solutions and high-value content provide valuable intelligence needed to power the investment process and scale productivity.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
About Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters is the world's leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. We combine industry expertise with innovative technology to deliver critical information to leading decision makers in the financial and risk, legal, tax and accounting, intellectual property and science and media markets, powered by the world's most trusted news organization. With headquarters in New York and major operations in London and Eagan, Minnesota, Thomson Reuters employs approximately 60,000 people and operates in over 100 countries. Thomson Reuters shares are listed on the Toronto and New York Stock Exchanges. For more information, go to http://thomsonreuters.com.