NEWS BRIEFS: Warburg Pincus buys stake in trade execution software firm

NEW YORK — Warburg Pincus on Sept. 5 agreed to acquire a 30% stake in trade execution software company NYFIX for $75 million, confirmed Robert Gasser, NYFIX CEO. Mr. Gasser will step down as part of the agreement, tied to the private equity firm's investment. He will be replaced by Howard Edelstein, who had been an entrepreneur-in-residence at Warburg and previously had been president and CEO of Radianz, a financial services technology company acquired by BT Group PLC, London, in April 2005. NYFIX Chairman Peter Hansen also stepped down and was replaced by Lon Gorman, retired Charles Schwab vice chairman and an NYFIX board member.

"I feel I accomplished what I set out to do," Mr. Gasser said in an interview. "I am proud of what we accomplished." Warburg will have a controlling stake in the company, which is publicly traded on the OTC market.

Messrs. Gasser and Edelstein said in the interview that the Warburg investment will enable NYFIX to maintain its independence and avoid being acquired by a large broker-dealer. In addition, the investment should enable the company to press ahead with several growth initiatives that until now have been slow to implement due to capital requirements.

"Warburg will leverage that foundation and maintain the company as an independent and neutral organization," Mr. Edelstein said, adding that he will look to expand the number of asset classes that NYFIX serves, grow internationally and consider acquisitions that expand the company's product line.

FAIRFIELD, Iowa — The Barclay Group on Sept. 5 announced it purchased the Alternative Asset Center database, which tracks hedge fund performance. "Integration of AAC and Barclay data will enable us to provide up-to-date monthly performance figures on nearly 7,000 hedge funds," Sol Waksman, founder and president of The Barclay Group, said in a company news release. "Our internal database now maintains information on over 12,000 alternative investment vehicles" and is the largest hedge fund database in the world, he added.

NEW YORK — The investment world took time on Sept. 11 to remember those who were killed five years ago in the terrorist attacks.

Morgan Stanley, which lost 13 employees in the attacks on the World Trade Center, held a companywide moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. EDT, the moment five years earlier that the first plane struck the North Tower. The company also placed lilies near a plaque honoring the lost employees at the firm's offices at 1585 Broadway in Manhattan, said spokeswoman Andrea Slattery. It also provided flowers to employees in its Westchester County offices in Harrison, N.Y., to place at the firm's Memorial Garden there.

"Sept. 11 was a day of terrible tragedy and uncertainty for our firm, our industry and the world," said John Mack, chairman and CEO of Morgan Stanley, in a memo sent to employees this morning. "Yet, in its wake, the people of Morgan Stanley joined with the entire financial community and demonstrated extraordinary resilience and perseverance to get the financial markets up and running again. We vowed to come back, and, five years later, this firm and our industry are stronger than ever."

Legg Mason also held a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m. EDT, said spokeswoman Mary Athridge. The WTC offices of Citigroup Asset Management, which was acquired by Legg Mason last year, were destroyed in the attacks, although no employees were killed.

Fiduciary Trust Co. International and Franklin Templeton Investments held a joint interfaith memorial service Sunday at St. Bartholomew's Church in New York, which was attended by "several hundred" people, said spokesman William Weeks. Fiduciary Trust lost 86 employees in the attacks on the towers, and Franklin lost one employee.

Putnam Investments employees participated in remembrance ceremonies held by parent Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., according to Laura McNamara, Putnam spokeswoman. Putnam employee Lynn Goodchild was on United Flight 175, which crashed into the WTC.

The New York Stock Exchange held a moment of silence at 9:29 a.m. EDT, followed by the ringing of the opening bell by Bruce Logan, New York Downtown Hospital president and CEO. The hospital, located three blocks from Ground Zero, treated more than 1,500 patients injured in the attacks.

The New York Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange held a joint minute of silence at 11 a.m. EDT, followed by a longer ceremony at 3:30 p.m. on the NYBOT trading floor to pay tribute to the 30 people with ties to either NYBOT or NYMEX who were killed in the attack. Also, NYBOT will have artifacts from the site of the World Trade Center on display in the lobby of its offices all week, said NYBOT spokesman Guy Taylor.

The NYBOT's offices at 4 World Trade Center were destroyed in the attacks, and since then it has been renting space from NYMEX's headquarters in the World Financial Center, across the street from Ground Zero.

Fred Alger Management ran ads in newspapers and magazines, honoring the 35 employees of the firm who were killed in the attacks, said Zachary Karabell, senior vice president and portfolio manager. Fred Alger's office was located on the 93rd floor of the North Tower. Among those killed were David Alger, president and CIO of the firm who, with his brother Fred Alger, helped build the company.