On the Road

Two weeks ago today, Mary Claire and I flew to London from New York. We found winter there, which has been missing back in New York. Frigid temperatures had found their way west from Russia, and while we saw the sun every day during our stay, the temperature was never much above freezing. I was able to meet with our expanded London team and together one evening we hosted an event for our London-based clients to meet the editors and directors of research at our new offices in The City. It was my pleasure to announce that John Lee, from whom we bought The Trade in 2009, would be assuming the role of Managing Director of Europe for Asset International. John is a serial entrepreneur and media professional who has started and successfully sold three media companies. He began his career as a journalist and will provide us with leadership as we look to continue our growth in London and on the continent. Most recently one of his former partners, Dr. Richard Schwartz, joined us as Editor-in-Chief of our new launch, Philanthropy Management. Together with aiCIO, these brands will serve as the cornerstones of our Wealth Management Group. We also introduced our clients to Elizabeth Pfeuti, our new European Editor of aiCIO, who most recently was with Dow Jones' Financial News. Kip McDaniel and his editorial team are rapidly expanding their global coverage. On Friday evening, we joined the Lees to see Ben Brown's Three Days in May. The play examines the tough decisions Churchill's coalition war cabinet wrestled with versus Hitler's Germany in 1940.On Saturday evening we arrived home in plenty of time to prepare for Super Bowl XLVI, the New York Giants vs. the New England Patriots. The Giants lead by Eli Manning had also been on the road during this playoff run after beating the Atlanta Falcons at home. They faced a tough opponent in the Tom Brady-led Patriots. During one stretch in the game, Brady completed 16 passes in a row! In a tough-fought battle that went down to the wire, the Giants emerged victorious, 21-17. On Monday we headed to Boston, where Stephen Moylan, our Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing, once again hosted our global sales conference. With a significant number of customer panels, we listened carefully to hear how we could best serve their business intelligence and marketing needs. This year's meeting included our latest acquisition, Financial Research Corporation, or FRC, which is based in Boston and is a division of Strategic Insight. We also had the opportunity to share with our clients the previews of several new data products that will be added to Simfund MF later this year. We are looking forward to another year of double-digit organic growth and trust that we will continue to add to our portfolio of institutional finance brands through acquisition as well. Global financial markets will remain challenged, but in this environment the demand for must-have actionable information will remain strong.