Matrix and Lighthouse Financial Group Enter Strategic Partnership

Matrix, U.S.A., and Lighthouse Financial Group, will enter a strategic partnership to combine Matrix’s proprietary top-ranked Economic Value Added research capabilities with the team of professional equities and equity derivatives traders at Lighthouse. The joint operating agreement is intended to create a powerful institutional equity offering that takes a more entrepreneurial and nimble approach to financial services and investment banking. During a time of turmoil on Wall Street, this partnership is intended to address the need to get back to basics and focus on the client. The research will be branded as Matrix / Lighthouse. Terms of the strategic partnership were not disclosed.

The strategic partnership will enable customers to access both Matrix U.S.A. and Lighthouse.The equities desk, will be lead by Rob Weinstein, partner, senior managing director and head of Lighthouse Institutional Equities. Before joining Lighthouse, Weinstein was a senior managing director and head of sales and trading for the Institutional Execution-Only Team at Bear Stearns.

Mike Blaustein, who has been the President and CEO of Matrix since February of this year, after more than a decade long tenure with Lehman Brothers, said in a press release, “this strategic partnership with Lighthouse will give our institutional client base a tremendous way to enhance our research products. These are precisely the times to strengthen our equity platform so we can help our clients achieve the best investment outcome.”

“As more buy-side clients continue to expand their in-house research efforts, we believe the Matrix product will be a valuable tool for our institutional clients to use in their investment decision-making process,” said Weinstein. “Furthermore, it arms our sales traders with sector and stock-specific market intelligence in real time that will enable us to do a better job in covering and trading for our clients,” he added. The new business will represent institutional and professional services clients across North America. It will be co-lead by Weinstein and Blaustein.