Strategic Insight, one of the go-to data firms in the fund industry is up for sale, sources with knowledge of the sale told The MFWire. The New York City-based firm has already begun the sale process, hiring i-bankers at Jordan Edmiston as adviser, one insider added.

Calls to Strategic Insight's co-founder Avi Nachmany were not immediately returned. E-mails sent to the company's second co-founder, Joel Rosenthal, was not answered. Calls to Jordan Edmiston were also not immediately returned.

There are as of yet no names of interested bidders mentioned by sources. Nor could The MFWire learn if a book has already been prepared for the sale. But one source said that the target price on the sale is expected to be $60 million.

In theory, a potential buyer could leverage SI's reputation as a thought leader to gain distribution of their products through fund companies. The consulting firm also has strong relationships with many asset managers that could be valued by a buyer. The New York City-based firm claims 158 clients in the United States and another 70 global clients (see its client list).

Beyond its people and industry research, SI's two most prominent products -- FundFilings and SimFund -- are unique and could be leveraged by a buyer.

Potential buyers may also find SI to be a rare property as a data-driven consultant to the fund industry. Its primary competitors would include Cerulli Associates and Financial Research Corp. (FRC).

Indeed, FRC's sale to Bisys (which was itself sold to Citigroup last year), could prove a model for how Strategic Insight would proceed. In that case, Bisys attempted to leverage FRC's research relationships to open the door for its back-office services. That formal tie mimicked an informal relationship between PFPC and Cerulli.

However, those relationships did not fulfill all of their promise in practice and that experience may make back-office providers more shy in approaching a consultant for a buyout.

Another group of potentially interested parties could be technology consultants looking to strengthen their ins with fund firms. Those firms could include: Confluence, New River and Access Data.

Finally, publishers in the financial industry space such as Source Media or the Financial Times (which recently purchased Ignites.com publisher Money-Media), could find Strategic Insight to be a strong fit.  

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