JPMorgan Chase has acquired Plexus Group a US provider of transaction cost analysis (TCA), trade research and consulting services used by investment managers, pension plan sponsors and brokerage firms. The US bank has also struck a distribution and service support deal in London with Inalytics for the provision of TCA products for institutional investors.
Plexus Group will be a wholly owned subsidiary operating under JPMorgan Investor Services. Inalytics will provide distribution and servicing support for Plexus products across Europe. Integration will take place immediately, says the bank.
Ramy Bourgi, business executive, JPMorgan Investor Services Europe, Middle East and Africa, says the deal pulls together all the necessary resources to manage the design, development and delivery of the optimal solution for the measurement and management of transaction costs.
He adds: "The combination of JPMorgan Investor Services with Plexus Group's market-leading TCA and research services, tied in with Inalytics's distribution and servicing support, allows us to offer a global knockout blow in transaction cost analysis."
Many of the Inalytics tools were created as a response to the Myners Report 2001, which advised the plan sponsor community to monitor its transaction costs or face government regulation.
Based in Los Angeles, Plexus Group offers products such as Alpha Capture Service, Sponsor Monitor and BrokerEdge that provide custom analysis of a client's trading data, and practical recommendations for improving investment returns through better trading practices.
Bourgi says JPMorgan and Plexus Group are engaged in an aggressive two-year plan to improve Plexus's benchmarking, data access and customised reporting capabilities.