Wilshire Associates and CanadianMgrSearch (CMS) announced an alliance today that will allow the firms to cross sell certain products and services and to share databases.

Wilshire Associates is an investment technology, investment consulting and investment management firm based in Santa Monica, California and CMS is a Toronto area company that delivers investment manager databases to clients via an Internet-based product.

“This alliance provides our firm with an opportunity to further penetrate the Canadian market by having CMS introduce Wilshire Compass, our PC-based fund management and consulting tool to its Canadian clients and prospects while also supplementing our current databases with information on Canadian-based money managers,” said Julia Bonafede, senior managing director and head of Wilshire Consulting, the business unit that markets Wilshire Compass. “Wilshire Compass, which combines Wilshire’s comprehensive databases with sophisticated investment technology developed at Wilshire during the past 34 years, currently includes proprietary information on more than 1,000 money management firms and 5,000 separate account investment management products. In excess of 90% of the institutional investment managers are represented in Compass.”

“Adding the extensive databases maintained by Wilshire Compass will move CMS into the forefront by providing Canadian plan sponsors, institutional consultants, money managers, insurance companies and high net-worth clients and their advisors with the global investment manager information they need to make informed investment decisions,” added Bruce Friesen, president of CMS. “By enabling those of our clients who need the deep analytics provided by Wilshire to move to the Compass platform, we also will bring to the Canadian market the combination of the best in global databases and analytical platforms.”

CanadianMgrSearch currently tracks nearly 175 money management firms with 900 investment management products comprising approximately 85% of all Canadian managers accepting new business, according to Friesen. “CMS’s database brings together information on the styles, objectives and achievements of a wide range of top managers of segregated and pooled funds who seek Canadian clients,” he said. “Our firm provides thorough profiles of the people, products and companies who drive the investment management industry for Canada, and ensures that clients can readily match their goals to those Investment Managers best able to achieve them.”

Charles Stunkard, the managing director who leads the Wilshire Compass business, noted that, “Compass is unique in that it provides users with the tools necessary to address all aspects of a disciplined investment process in one complete system, including the ability to formulate investment policy and implement strategies while also monitoring and evaluating asset class and total fund performance and risk. With Wilshire Compass, clients also can develop asset allocation and rebalancing recommendations, select and evaluate investment managers and analyze and optimize manager teams. All Compass analytics can be tailored to fit the user’s individual investment process. Our clients are supported by experienced investment professionals who provide user training and consultative support at a level not available with any other investment technology product.”