A. Michael Lipper, who sold his fund research company to Reuters two years ago, has left the company, according to Sean McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the company. Lipper continued working at the firm to ensure a smooth transition after the acquisition by Reuters of New York in 1998, McLaughlin said. Lipper was on a consulting contract, which expired Dec. 31, McLaughlin said.
Lipper will now spend part of his time at Lipper Advisory Services of Summit, N.J., a registered investment advisor and a company that has existed in some form or another, under various names, since the 1970s, according to Lipper. The company opened a hedge fund that invests in financial services stocks in June, 1999, which "has done well in its brief history," according to Lipper. He also is doing strategic consulting and is involved in a number of pro bono activities, he said. He would have liked to stay at the company he founded in 1973 if he could have been of service, he said. The company is now focusing on collecting data rather than analyzing the investment business, Lipper said.
Lipper Inc. provides guidance to fund directors and fund management companies to assist them in making decisions related to pricing, director compensation and portfolio management compensation, according to Eric Almquist, vice president of institutional business for Lipper Inc. The company also provides the mutual fund industry with data, benchmarks and analysis to assess funds and the fund markets, he said.
