23-Apr-08
Merrill Lynch launches Open Minds research platform. Screen Digest's new service Global Media Intelligence has been selected as the specialist supplier of media research on Open Minds

LAUNCHES MERRILL OPEN MINDS WITH SEVEN ALTERNATIVE RESEARCH PROVIDERS

NEW YORK, 9 April, 2008 — Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) today launched Merrill Open Minds, a service that makes available alternative research products and services as a complement to the firm's industry-leading fundamental research and analysis. The new service addresses the increasing demand from hedge funds, mutual funds and other institutions for a broader array of specialized research resources to help them make investment decisions.

Merrill Open Minds has reached agreement initially with seven alternative research providers with expertise in extra-financial information, corporate integrity risk, federal policy, healthcare, media, energy and consumer surveys. They are: Asset 4; Audit Integrity; Cypress Group; Decision Resources; Global Media Intelligence; HPDI and Primary Source. Further information about each of these services is available through the newly launched Merrill Open Minds website at www.merrillopenminds.ml.com.

Merrill Lynch will market these research providers to institutional trading clients through the firm's global institutional and sector specialist sales teams.

"Our research, sales and trading professionals are uniquely positioned to identify alternative research providers with specialized expertise relevant to our clients' investment processes," said Michael Stewart, head of Global Cash Equities at Merrill Lynch. "Merrill Open Minds provides an efficient way for our clients to access these specialized third-party providers."

Merrill Lynch specifically chose alliances that complement the firm's own industry-leading research products.

"Making third-party research available through Merrill Lynch will enrich our interaction with our clients as they engage in the dynamic process of evaluating investments," said Candace Browning, president of Global Research at Merrill Lynch. "Merrill Open Minds will marry our award-winning in-house fundamental investment research with a broader set of different kinds of services, providing our institutional clients with complementary content offerings."

Offering access to these research providers will not only enable Merrill Lynch to participate in the fast-growing third-party research market, but also adds value to Merrill Lynch's leading global execution platform.

"The third-party research market is currently worth $1.5 billion and is experiencing double-digit growth every year," said Mr. Stewart. "Moreover, trading volumes are correlated with quality research content, and by complementing our proprietary research with third-party content, we expect to attract incremental trading volumes."

Third-party providers aligning with Merrill Open Minds will benefit from the breadth and expertise of Merrill Lynch's global sales platform.

"We chose Merrill Open Minds because Merrill Lynch has the whole package — highly regarded fundamental research, a high-touch generalist and sector specialist sales teams that can bring the right product to the right client, and a world-class trading platform," said Peter Hoenigsberg, chief executive officer of Decision Resources, Inc. "They help us understand how to present and tailor our research offering specifically to the needs of key asset managers."

About the Resources Available Through Merrill Open Minds


ASSET4 provides objective and measurable extra-financial information, incorporating a complete range of economic, environmental, social and governance (EESG) information. This information enables users to improve investment performance, reduce risk, develop innovative products and drive down research costs.

Audit Integrity rates more than 8,000 public corporations for corporate integrity risk. These proprietary ratings and analyses are used by investors, insurers, auditors and corporate finance professionals to identify and avoid high risk companies. Audit Integrity also forecasts risks involving equity performance, class action litigation, and material financial restatement.

Cypress Group provides insight on Washington policy to investment managers who are seeking to inform their analysis of financial services, health care and other sectors as well as M&A activity and other events. Cypress provides an edge to investment managers by using a rigorous research methodology and diverse network of Washington sources to forecast the probable outcome of policy changes.

Decision Resources, Inc. provides research on the trends, emerging developments, and market potential in various healthcare industry sectors, as well as advisory and consulting services. Its client base includes large pharmaceutical companies, emerging biotechnology concerns, financial services, managed care organizations, and medical device manufacturers looking for research and advisory services to help shape their strategy.

Global Media Intelligence is a premier source of data, analyses and forecasts for the global media industry, with a team of over 40 media analysts providing detailed models and industry reports covering television, motion pictures, video games, mobile media, home entertainment and broadband media. A part of Screen Digest, its client base includes many significant cable, media and entertainment companies looking to gain insight on market dynamics globally.

HPDI, LLC collates historic data on oil and gas production, drilling permits, transportation, gas plants, refineries and pricing and provides clients customized applications in order to format the data for GIS maps, charts, reports and exports for secondary applications. The products are used by many large oil and gas producers and pipelines in their analysis of oil and gas production trends.

Primary Source is a Merrill Lynch product offering, providing customized consumer market studies that give clients information about a product or service from the perspective of the end user. The goal is to provide clients with extensive, statistically reliable, and properly interpreted channel information by conducting surveys of end users. Primary Source clients typically receive their reports and analyses within a week.