The Evolution of Primary Research and What Role Do Expert Networks Play in It?

Believe it or not, the modern concept of institutional investing traces its roots all the way back to the financial crisis of 1772 in Amsterdam when a local businessman formed a trust to provide small investors with the ability to diversify their portfolio. But the idea did not really take off until the 1930s in the United States when a series of new laws were passed to regulate mutual funds and other forms of institutional investing.

However, until the late 1990s, institutional investors and mutual fund managers faced an enormous challenge when it came time to conduct primary research - almost all of the information available was either in the form of a company-published prospectus or buried in the charts and texts of lengthy industry reports.

Institutional investors demanded more, and so from the 1970s onwards, any consultant or investor who wanted to conduct primary research had to rely on a personal network of contacts stored on Rolodexes or in “little black books,” business cards, and handwritten notes. It was only when three friends working for a private equity firm in New York pooled their money to form the first true Expert Network, an act that would completely transform the institutional investment industry.

Starting in 1999, the Gerson Lehrman Group (more popularly known as GLG) allowed consultants and investors to connect directly to insiders and experienced professionals for the first time. Instead of having to wade through lengthy corporate reports or rely on personal contacts to ferret out crucially important information, investors could reach out and speak directly to the engineers, managers, and company executives who were knowledgeable about a given market or industry.

Today, there are dozens of different Expert Networks, each one competing to sign up the best professionals, government regulators, scientists, and senior management working or retired from working in nearly every sector under the sun. And non-profit organizations, consulting corporations, professional service firms, and many others have joined hedge fund managers, institutional investors, and private equity firms in seeking out knowledge from individual experts, prompting a phenomenal growth in the Expert Network industry.

The Next Step in the Evolution of Primary Research

The days of Rolodexes and business cards may be long over, but today’s consultant or investor is still faced with the daunting challenge of managing (and paying for) access to a wide array of different Expert Networks, comparing and contrasting the fees charged by different Experts, coordinating schedules with the Experts they wish to speak to, and obtaining and storing the transcript and audio recording of every call made.

Thankfully, Expert Network Calls (ENC) represents the next step in the evolution of primary research. With one, easy-to-use web app, ENC allows institutional investors and consultants the ability to access all the top Expert Networks on one page. Furthermore, ENC’s encrypted cloud-based app lets investors and consultants securely manage and store everything in one place, including transcripts, audio recordings, and Experts’ fees.

Best of all, ENC’s integrated dashboard makes it a snap to find the right expert, invite them for a chat, coordinate your schedules, and keep track of multiple time zones. And ENC’s built-in voice app lets you place your calls without having to fuss over different software programs, and every call comes with a free transcript and audio recording.

If you are an investor or a consultant working for a private equity firm, institutional investor, hedge fund, or non-profit organization that regularly conducts primary research, ENC’s friendly web app makes it simple and easy to speak to the right person with the right mix of experience and expertise to give you that crucially important information you are looking for.