Opalesque Ltd. Acquires Carbon360˚ LLC Adding Institutional Research Capabilities

May 29, 2009 - PRLog -- Opalesque Ltd., a leading international media company focusing on the hedge
fund and alternative investments industry, announced today it has finalized its acquisition of Carbon360˚
Research. Headquartered in New York, Carbon360˚ Research is a leading provider of technology and
operations research for the institutional investment community. The acquisition of Carbon360 and its
team of experts led by founder Brian Shapiro greatly expands Opalesque’s footprint in the operations,
technology and market research space at a time when the investment management community’s
interests in operational risk mitigation and business sustainability are growing. Brian Shapiro will be
staying on as Senior Research Fellow and the Carbon360˚ name and brand identity will continue as a
wholly owned subsidiary of Opalesque, Ltd.
Carbon360˚, established in 2002 with the mission of delivering the most in-depth research on critical
enterprise software systems and operations trends, by profiling hundreds of different platforms from
leading vendors like Sungard™, Advent™ and Thomson Reuters™ etc., Carbon360˚ specializes in
analyzing software companies' performance on functional, support and application development issues.
The acquisition will bring together two established firms with deep expertise, and allow Opalesque to
address the financial services industry’s expanding front and back office research needs.
"A myriad of short and long-term questions, particularly around operational efficiency, outsourcing, and
business sustainability, are playing an increasingly important role in the way investment management
companies invest in and view their Carbon360˚. "Opalesque is one of the few media firms that has successfully taken both a quantitative and
qualitative approach to assessing and reporting on industry issues. Opalesque has helped tens of
thousands finance professionals and investors to better understand complex investment-related and
operational questions."
Opalesque publishes 10 specialist publications focusing on alternative investments, hedge funds,
commodities, real estate, Islamic finance, managed futures/CTAs, "alternative alternatives", technical
(chart) analysis and sovereign wealth funds. In a week, over 600,000 issues of Opalesque publications
are read in over 160 countries. With the acquisition of Carbon360˚, clients will have access to a vast
expanse of accumulated data on over 500 different software and service providers and a suite of
selection, evaluation and market research services.
"It would be an understatement to say that today's turbulent market environment is placing an
unprecedented premium on understanding the entire spectrum of investment and operational risks – both
traditional and non-traditional," said Matthias Knab, founder of Opalesque, Ltd. "By combining
Carbon360˚research with Opalesque’s leading media capabilities and worldwide distribution, we can help
asset managers and other financial institutions make more-informed decisions. Carbon360˚  Reports like
the Carbon360˚  Fund Administration Report or its acclaimed vendor cross-comparative Matrixes are
already the authoritative selection guide for the industry. Opalesque looks forward to support the
compilation and distribution of vital research like the Carbon360˚ Matrixes on Risk Systems, Trading
Systems, Investor Relationship Management and Hedge Fund Accounting."

About Opalesque Ltd.:
Opalesque was formed in 2001 to provide professional news services to participants in the financial and
alternative investment sector. Since inception, Opalesque has been providing premium online information
services related to the hedge fund and investment industries. In 2003, with the publication of its daily
Alternative Market Briefing, Opalesque successfully launched an information revolution in the hedge fund
media space: "Opalesque changed the world by bringing transparency where there was opacity and by
delivering an accurate professional reporting service." - Nigel Blanchard, Culross. Its banner publication
Alternative Market Briefing is the only daily hedge fund news service read by the elite hedge fund
managers themselves (http://www.opalesque.com/op_testimonials.html).
About Carbon360˚ Research
Carbon360° is the Investment Management Industry’s leading operations and technology research and
intelligence source. Carbon360 products range from award winning, exclusive Matrix reports which profile
and compare hundreds of Investment Management software products side by side, to white papers
focusing on the most important issues facing the traditional and alternative asset management sector
today.

Media Inquiry:
Denice Galicia
Marketing Director
Opalesque Ltd.
(+1) 917-449-5353
dgalicia@opalesque.com
www.opalesque.com


Brian Shapiro
Founder & Senior Research Fellow
(+1) 646-432-3322
bshapiro@carbon360.com

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In 2003, with the publication of its daily Alternative Market Briefing, Opalesque successfully launched an information revolution in the hedge fund media space: