New York City-based kasina, a management consulting firm, has two projects in the works for the mutual fund industry. One is a conference, and the other is an e-metrics service.

"We are preliminary stages of planning an event where we are bringing asset management firms and broker/dealers together to discuss content syndication. There is an ever-increasing desire among asset managers to deliver internal content onto the platforms of distribution partners, to get that content in front of advisors. On the other end, the wire houses want to control the information on that platform," Lee Kowarski, consultant at the firm, told the MutualFundWire.com.

"It is easier for brokers to access the data on the wire house's platform. There is only one password, one navigation to learn, and one place to visit," he added.

"This will be a roundtable symposium. There will be attendees from both sides. We will lay the issues on the table and start the process of understanding all the issues from everyone's perspective," the executive continued. The conference is planned for the end of February or early March, and it will be held in New York City.

kasina is also creating an e-metrics service, which is designed for large intermediary distribution fund companies. "This service aims to provide benchmarks for large firms in which they can compare their initiatives against one another. It will be apples-to-apples comparison. It will look at such criteria as website usage, numbers of people who sign on for prospecti, customer service comparisons. 10% of shareholders responded to this initiative, is that good or bad? We will gather the data on a monthly basis and provide quarterly benchmarking reports comparing them against the competition, identifying areas of improvement, and areas where they need to concentrate," Kowarski reported.

Those interested in either service can contact Michael Ma (e-mail: mma@kasina.com).

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