Demand Rising for Independent Research: Brokers Pairing Providers With Money Managers.(The Bank of New York's online services)

For fund managers seeking independent research, a new service from The Bank of New York is like online dating.

Money managers indicate what they look for in a research report-perhaps it's coverage of four specific mid-cap retail clothiers, including forensic accounting, interviews with customers and details that demand shoe-leather reporting, such as whether stores in different parts of the country share similar layouts.

Pre-screened independent research providers (IRPs) feed the system what they've got. One report, about a teen-oriented clothing store with outlets in virtually every mall throughout the Midwest, contains feedback from customers between the ages of 13 and 17 who speak about the apparel they've purchased at that chain and others in the past six months.

"[For IRPs], the conundrum is, How do I get in the right place at the right time,'" said John D. Meserve, chairman of BNY Jaywalk, a subsidiary of The Bank of New York, based in New York.

The new BNY Jaywalk 360 aims to solve the riddle by providing a system that filters each and immediately notifies subscribing money manager customers, electronically or otherwise, with a brief description of reports that include the criteria they have indicated they are interested in.

"We're basically matchmakers," said Nicholas J. Colas, director of research, "The beauty is, it's always a warm lead," he said.

For money managers, the advantage is hot-off-the-press access to reports for tickers they own or have expressed interest in, from a network of 150 IRPs that collectively cover 7,000 companies. BNY Jaywalk vets all of these IRPs to make sure they have no consulting conflicts or ties to investment banks.