Bloomberg Tradebook Partners with Hart Energy to Beef Up its Independent Research Offering

Bloomberg Tradebook, Bloomberg L.P.’ global agency broker, has partnered with Houston-based Hart Energy to boost its independent research offering for the buy side, said the company today.

In an exclusive distribution agreement with Bloomberg Tradebook, Hart Energy, will create a new institutional investor energy research product written specifically for the financial community.

Clients of Bloomberg Tradebook now have access to 15 independent research firms that provide a value-added perspective on their market sectors, said the firm.

The deal is a significant move for Hart Energy, a provider of news, data and analysis for the global energy industry. Hart is looking to expand its sales of research to the buy side. “This is the first type of broker distribution agreement we have signed with anybody,” comments Mike Warren, PhD., SVP - Upstream Research at Hart Energy.

The partnership will enable Hart Energy to gain access to the global institutional investor audience made up of hedge funds, mutual funds, pension funds and other institutional clients that use Bloomberg Tradebook’s electronic execution and premium brokerage services, according to the release

The pervasive reach of Bloomberg L.P.’s 380,000 terminals worldwide, coupled with Tradebook’s 800 institutional customers of which 200 trade energy products, were factors in Hart’s decision to partner with Tradebook, related Warren.

“We thought this would be a good opportunity to enter that market with their help,” said Warren in a phone interview today.

Hart Energy is a 150-person firm that covers the energy industry with a unique approach, said Warren. It hires geologists, engineers, economists and financial analysts that have worked in the industry. “It’s not one or two people. It’s a firm that has been in the industry for over 30 years with deep roots and big connections. That’s why we may be unique to Bloomberg Tradebook,” said Warren.

The company is also known for Oil & Gas Investor, which many analysts at investment banks look at to compare Hart’s analysis against their own.

“We expect the street to come to us for an industry view, not so much a company view,” explained Warren. We have a ground up analysis. Our strength is finding out where the company has acreage and how we value that acreage, and with that valuation and taking a lot of the state records to understand the drilling results and how that may affect the company’s break even economics.”

Meanwhile, Tradebook is adding energy research coverage at a key time.

“The U.S. energy market is dynamic today and likely to be for years to come,” commented Ray Tierney, CEO and president of Bloomberg Tradebook in today’s release. “Energy prices influence every aspect of the economy, so it is critical for our customers to stay abreast of oil and gas production trends and forecasts.”

In the interview, Warren said: “There’s revolution in the energy industry with shale oil/tight oil, shale gas and tight North America and is starting to spread to some countries. This is allowing the U.S. to lower gas prices dramatically over the last three or four years, starting quite a spread in Brent and WTI [West Texas Intermediate]. It impacts not only the oil and gas industry. It’s rejuvenating American industry. It’s probably the most important aspect of our economy going forward,” said Warren.

After signing the contract with Bloomberg Tradebook in October, Hart Energy has started to bring in extra analysts in order to write institutional investor products. It also has loaded a page [HEIR Go] on Bloomberg Professional service. “We have 20 pieces on there so that people interested can take a look and download some of the historical reports,” says Warren.

Ivy is Editor-at-Large for Advanced Trading and Wall Street & Technology. Ivy is responsible for writing in-depth feature articles, daily blogs and news articles with a focus on automated trading in the capital markets. As an industry expert, Ivy has reported on a myriad ... View Full Bio