Some execs leave expert firm Gerson Lehrman |
Date: Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Author: Reuters.com
Gerson Lehrman
Group, the largest so-called expert network firm, has been hit by a
series of top-level executive departures in recent weeks, according to
three sources familiar with the company. At least a half-dozen top sales
executives, including one who managed Gerson Lehrman's relationship
with hedge fund customers, have left the New York-based firm, said these
sources, who were not authorized to speak to the media. The
departures from Gerson Lehrman come at a time when U.S. authorities
have launched a new crackdown on insider trading, which has resulted in
the arrest of eight people associated with a rival California-based
expert network firm. No one associated with Gerson Lehrman has been implicated in the investigation. The sources said there is no indication that any of the departures were directly related to the insider trading investigation. All of the executives left on their own accord, these sources said. Expert
network firms, in exchange for a fee, specialize in matching hedge
funds seeking information with industry consultants--many of whom are
moonlighting corporate employees. The
timing of the departures reflects some of the fall-off in demand for
expert network services in the wake of the investigation, said one of
the sources. But the source added that the demand for expert network
services began declining even before news of the insider trading
investigation broke. A spokeswoman for Gerson Lehrman declined to comment. Another
source, who is a person close to Gerson Lehrman, said the departures
had nothing to do with the firm losing business over the past few
months. The person, who declined
to be identified because he was not authorized to speak to the media,
said some people had left the firm for personal reasons and the company
began overhauling its sales staff last year. This person said that the
firm hired a new national sales manager last year . The
most recent departures from the firm are James Yockey and Ramesh
Karnani, both managing directors, according to the sources. Yockey was
responsible for bringing in new business from hedge funds. Karnani,
meanwhile, sought to forge sales relationships with investment banks.
Both left in January, the sources said. Both
Yockey and Karnani were long time employees of Gerson Lehrman. The
sources said neither had been replaced and that both executives were
relocating for personal reasons. At
least three other top sales executives Aaron Liberman, David Moon and
Matthew Calistri have left the firm since late last year, these people
said. Gerson Lehrman, which employs over 700 people, had a 40-person sales staff at its peak. The news of their departure comes only days
after Gerson Lehrman hired a Washington lobbyist firm Elmendorf Ryan to
represent its interests. The expert
network business has come under a cloud ever since the government
arrested a handful of experts and executives working at rival expert
network firm Primary Global Research and charged them with insider
trading. Several of the departing
employees have left to join new ventures, relocated to other countries
or were recruited by rival expert network firms, these people said. Many
of the moves may have been in the works for quite some time, some of
these people said. Private equity
firm Silver Lake Partners, which took a $200 million equity stake in
Gerson Lehrman in 2007, did not immediately comment on the executive
changes at the firm. (Reporting by Emily Chasan and Svea Herbst-Bayliss; editing by Carol Bishopric)