OTR GLOBAL RANKED TOP INDEPENDENT CHANNEL CHECKING SPECIALIST

PURCHASE, NY (July 2008) — OTR Global (OTR) was ranked as Top Independent Channel Checking Specialist based on an independent survey1 of 123 US-based hedge fund and mutual fund managers. The purpose of the survey, conducted by Integrity Research Associates in Q1 2008, was to obtain insights on buy side attitudes toward channel checking2 and usage of external channel checking services offered by Integrity’s database of over 1,700 research firms. Overall, findings reveal OTR is well-positioned as a premier service provider in an industry that is growing in terms of both revenue generation and global scale.

OTR is noted as one of the few firms which offer both extensive custom survey offerings and a large suite of syndicated channel research report products. Clients rated OTR highly on value, compliance, high scalability, large interview teams, and comprehensive coverage of virtually all industry sectors across all major geographic regions. OTR also scored extremely well on the Popularity Index which takes into account a firm’s number of clients, revenue and number of survey mentions.

OTR Global received accolades for the following:

• "OTR [has] a significant lead over their smaller competitors on virtually all factors that are critical for success in this industry – marketing, compliance, distribution, technology, etc."
• "OTR is by far the most scalable of the independent channel checking specialists."
• Largest global presence with a team of more than 250 investigative reporters and editors based in the Americas, Europe, Asia and Africa
• OTR Field Force™ consists of more than 100 people living in or near most major cities in the U.S. and Europe who make site visits to specific locations
• Ranked highest, by a factor of 2 to the nearest competitor, in scalability to handle large projects on a recurring basis across broad geographic regions
• Ranked "high" in cost-to-value rating, and
• Most well-formed compliance procedures and policies that protect clients.

OTR Global is headquartered in Purchase, New York with offices located in San Francisco, Boston, London (United Kingdom) and Kalchreuth (Germany) with a growing presence in Asia.

Demand for and importance of channel checking continues to increase

Over the next four years, the primary research industry is expected to grow at an average rate of 14% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) to $1 billion by 2012. The channel research segment will grow at a slightly higher 15% CAGR over the next five years. Current spending on third-party channel research is estimated to grow from $145 million to $290 million by 2012. 25% of the firms that use third-party channel research services plan to increase usage in the coming year while 75% plan to maintain their current usage level. None indicated they would reduce usage. 12% of those firms not currently using said they plan to try these services in the coming year.

Why firms value third-party channel research

Half of all investors (49.6%) conduct channel checks as a standard part of their investment research process, and more than a third (31.7%) use third-party channel checking firms to augment their internal capabilities. A high 63% of respondents viewed channel research as an "extremely important" part of their research process. Key reasons that firms value third-party channel research include: industry-level insights (45%), company-specific insights (30%), Independent valuations (20%) and idea generation (5%).

More than half of the respondents said they have an interest in performing a channel check on a market or company outside of the United States. Most respondents indicated a specific interest in Europe, Asia and the emerging markets.

An increasing number of money managers use qualitative data to develop longitudinal studies or data sets for modeling and quantitative analysis. 60% of the firms using channel checks placed a high importance on recurring channel checks as opposed to one-off checks. It was noted that recurring channel checks are more important for industries with short sales cycles and a large consumer base, such as retail.