Jean-Rene Giraud, founding CEO of Trackinsight, a global exchange-traded funds analysis platform, died of a heart attack June 16, the company said in a LinkedIn post.
"He led Trackinsight with energy and passion, working in close partnership with industry leaders to help bring greater clarity, insight, and knowledge to ETF investors across the globe," Trackinsight's post said. "Today, our hearts go out to his wife and daughter, and we extend our heartfelt sympathy to his entire family."
In November, Pensions & Investments announced it had partnered with Trackinsight to launch P&I ETF Exchange, a digital platform designed to provide asset owners and institutional investors with data analysis tools to make investment decisions.
"We are deeply saddened to learn about J.R.'s passing," said Chris J. Battaglia, president and publisher of P&I. "He was a trusted partner, a friend and a great innovator and disrupter to the global ETF business."
Mr. Battaglia added that P&I's "thoughts and prayers are with the Trackinsight team."
Nasdaq honored Mr. Giraud's legacy with an electronic billboard in Times Square.
Trackinsight's story began in 2014 "in a sunny town in the south of France, where a small group of financial professionals were advising institutions on their investment strategies," according to Trackinsight's website.
"They realized that professional investors had expensive systems, data, and technology that made it easy for them to invest in ETFs, but those tools didn't exist for all investors," the website said. "So, they decided it was time for everyone to have access to world-class ETF data and analytics, not just finance professionals."
