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CogentHedge shuts down

Thursday, September 11, 2014
Opalesque Industry Update - Originally developed and launched in 2001 as an in-house research facility for Cogent Alternative Strategies Inc., a third party marketer of hedge funds and other highly specialized alternative strategies for major institutional investors worldwide, CogentHedge became a trusted, highly accurate online resource for all qualified accredited investors. Our 10,000 registered users came to CogentHedge for analytical data and qualitative information unavailable elsewhere except to the very well-heeled institution that could afford the subscription and licensing fees of the professional consultants. Our stance from the outset was that this information should be accessible to all potential investors, not just the elite – which is why we never charged a fee for full access to our Intelligent Tools or the information maintained in respect of over 15,000 funds representing a broad spectrum of available investment strategies and structures.

We are shutting our doors because we are no longer able to support the platform with the quality our users have come to expect within our modest budget. Our founding partner has invested the bulk of the funds and we have all devoted countless hours into building, maintaining and operating the CogentHedge.com website. Throughout this process, we have continued to offer access to the CogentHedge platform to all accredited investors without fee or charge. We have at the same time attempted to monetize our platform by making it accessible to various third-party institutions through white labeling opportunities or the development of functional extensions to support internal marketing and capital introductions.

CogentHedge.com was a vision which grew out of my partner's and my recognition of the need and potential for this application. And, over the years, it has not simply been the product of my partner and me. I would like to thank my colleagues in this venture, specifically Elke Butera, CogentHedge's chief financial analyst and our point person for forward contact functions, Donna Kelleher, who has been in charge of the care and feeding of our database for the past six or so years, and the consummate professionals at USCNET, a broad-based technology consulting firm in central New Jersey who have been backing us up (literally and figuratively) with network, web, security and e-mail support services as well as all the IT solutions required to run an online business and virtual company for over 15 years. CogentHedge has been a team effort and I am proud of the team that made it possible.

Personally, I had a blast. I was surrounded by a top-notch team of professionals dedicated to the concept of providing intelligent tools to enhance informed decisions. We created the most accurate online research tool for hedge fund investors and offered it to all qualified users. We met many truly enthusiastic investment advisers who worked tirelessly to create value for their clients. We also interacted with a broad spectrum of investors eager to use our comprehensive toolset to discover the best managers and strategies offering consistently upward momentum. I've been in this business since the 1980's but I continue to learn daily from my interactions with both investors and advisers. It is what kept me coming back to the fight every morning.

It has been our pleasure to serve the alternative investment community. Our decision to cease operations at this time has been a difficult one. We would like to thank the fund managers who have listed their investment products with us through the years and have diligently assisted us in maintaining accurate performance reporting and robust product descriptions. Together we have provided accredited investors with the tools necessary to make intelligent decisions with regard to this segment of the financial community.

So, as Edward R. Murrow would say: "Good night, and good luck."

A final note: the CogentHedge analytical platform remains a highly accurate and highly scalable research resource for any organization looking to offer its staff and/or clients an unbiased environment in which to search for, examine, analyze, compare and combine alternative investment opportunities. If this is the sort of application that would benefit your organization, please by all means let me know. We've already done the heavy lifting; it would be a simple enough process to shape CogentHedge into a tool tuned specifically for your purposes.

CogentHedge

Press Release

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