It is among a growing group of financial technology companies that are hoping to take advantage of regulatory changes in Europe and pressure on asset management fees that are driving changes in the equity research business model. New rules in the European Union’s revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (Mifid II), an overhaul of the region’s trading rulebook that came into force this month, require asset managers to pay for research out of their own pocket. This has increased demand for tools that can help them gauge the quality of research. Large brokers have traditionally “bundled” research fees together with what they charge to execute trades. Over the past few years asset managers have also been under pressure to cut fees due to lackluster returns, driving them to be more aware about how they spend their research dollars.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-banks-fintech/goldman-sachs-wells-fargo-and-others-invest-38-million-in-research-tech-startup-idUSKBN1F71J5