Thomson Reuters makes cuts in corporate advisory services

Sep 02, 2009

New York strategic research and perception experts to be laid off

Thomson Reuters yesterday told its New York-based strategic research and perception teams they are being cut, according to people familiar with the situation.

Jeff Shacket, VP of corporate advisory services, and around nine people reporting to him are leaving, including VP Kara Newman, who heads up strategic research, and senior director Rob Nagle, head of the perception team.

They were informed Tuesday by Bill Haney, Thomson Reuters’ London-based global head of investor relations services.

IR service providers have been put under pressure by the global financial downturn, which has led to trimmed corporate IR budgets – as reported in a recent benchmarking study by the research team being eliminated.

The strategic research team’s output includes research reports and other content for IRHub, an education and networking site for Thomson ONE Investor Relations clients. Though not a profit center, it has been viewed as a competitive differentiator.

By contrast, the perception team, which surveys investors on behalf of corporate clients, is a revenue generator. Nagle formerly worked at LaBranche & Co, the NYSE specialist, helping provide market intelligence to listed companies.

Other strategic research experts to be pushed out include Glenn Curtis, a regular industry commentator, and Arzu Cevik, who authored an article in the August issue of IR magazine, ‘The case of the disappearing analysts’.

According to Newman’s personal website, she has other irons in the fire. She is the ‘High Spirits’ columnist for Chile Pepper magazine and a contributor to Wine Enthusiast and the San Francisco Chronicle. An announcement on her website says her first book, Spice & Ice, about spicy cocktails, will be published by Chronicle Books in November.

A spokesman for Thomson Reuters declined to comment on the layoffs. ‘We don’t comment on personnel changes,’ he wrote in an email. ‘That said, we continue to invest in our growing IR business in terms of our products, services and people. With that, we continue to evolve our operations to ensure we are aligned with our clients’ evolving needs.’By Neil Stewart

Bilibala comments:
Human resource is the most important assets of Thomas Reuters, even though Corp Advisory is not the major segment that generate profit for the corporation.

Senior management team should think it twice before they take actions. I mean, the economic downturn is almost over (even though when will it fully recover is still full of uncertainty), but laid off simply because of this may not be a good & impressive reason.