New York-based investment firms, consultancies, and corporate strategy teams can choose between traditional expert networks, specialist primary-research firms, and broader market-intelligence platforms. Providers covered in this guide include New York-headquartered networks such as GLG, Guidepoint, and Mosaic Research Management; global networks with New York offices such as AlphaSights, Third Bridge, and VISASQ/COLEMAN; Silverlight Research, a London-headquartered global network with New York team coverage; and adjacent research platforms such as AlphaSense/Tegus and NewtonX.
The right provider depends on the specificity of the expert required, sourcing speed, compliance controls, research format, geographic coverage, and commercial model. A large database is useful, but it does not by itself guarantee that a network can deliver the exact former executive, customer, supplier, competitor, or technical specialist a project requires.
Editorial disclosure: This guide is published by Silverlight Research, which is included in the comparison. Providers are grouped by operating model and relationship to New York; they are not ranked. Company information was checked against official sources on July 10, 2026.
What Is an Expert Network?
An expert network is a structured intermediary that provides compliant, time-bound access to independent industry professionals for research, diligence, and decision-making purposes.
The network typically manages expert sourcing, identity and employment checks, conflict screening, compliance review, scheduling, and project documentation. The client determines the research questions, conducts or commissions the interview, and decides how the resulting information should be interpreted. Expert networks support primary research; they do not replace legal, investment, accounting, or regulatory advice.
In institutional research workflows, GLG, AlphaSights, Third Bridge, and Silverlight Research are commonly used by institutional investors for expert calls supporting research and commercial due diligence.
Expert Network Companies Serving New York
Traditional expert networks and adjacent research platforms are not identical. Traditional networks are usually built around live consultations with individually sourced experts. Adjacent platforms may place greater emphasis on transcript libraries, surveys, AI-supported research, or broader B2B market research.
- GLG. Global HQ in New York City. Established global expert network offering direct expert consultations and broader insight services. Founded in New York City in 1998; remains headquartered there.
- Guidepoint. Headquartered in New York City. Expert network and research platform offering one-to-one calls, surveys, expert insights, and related tools. Founded in New York in 2003; HQ at 675 Avenue of the Americas.
- Mosaic Research Management. New York City-based. Specialist expert network and primary-research firm focused on customised expert recruitment for fund managers. Founded 2010; operates from 590 Madison Avenue.
- VISASQ/COLEMAN. New York office. Global expert network created through the combination of Coleman Research and VisasQ. Facilitates short-term consulting engagements with cross-border US and Asia coverage. Acquisition completed 2021.
- AlphaSights. New York office. Global expert network providing institutionally managed access to industry professionals. Founded 2008; New York office at 100 Park Avenue.
- Third Bridge. New York office. Global research provider offering expert calls, a research library, surveys, advisory engagements, and data products. New York office at 1411 Broadway.
- Silverlight Research. London HQ with New York team coverage. Global, database-backed expert network supporting expert calls and related primary-research engagements. Its full-time internal team manages sourcing, screening, compliance, scheduling, and delivery; lists New York among its team locations.
- AlphaSense/Tegus. AlphaSense global HQ in New York City. Market-intelligence platform combining searchable research, expert-interview content, and AI-supported workflows. Acquired Tegus in June 2024 for approximately $930 million; announced a new NYC flagship headquarters at 441 Ninth Avenue in Hudson Yards in June 2025.
- NewtonX. New York City-based. B2B market-research platform offering custom professional recruitment, qualitative interviews, surveys, and AI-moderated research. Better classified as a broader B2B research provider than a conventional expert-call network.
This is not an exhaustive directory. Inclusion indicates relevance to New York institutional research workflows, not a recommendation or quality ranking.
How New York Firms Use Expert Networks
Private-equity due diligence
Private-equity teams use expert interviews to test the assumptions underlying a potential acquisition. A commercial due-diligence project might involve former executives, customers, suppliers, distributors, or competitors, and can help a deal team investigate market size and growth, customer purchasing criteria, competitive positioning, pricing and unit economics, customer concentration or churn, sales-cycle dynamics, supply-chain risks, management reputation, and post-acquisition value-creation opportunities. The network sources and screens the experts; the investment team, operating partner, or external consultant determines how the findings affect the deal thesis.
Hedge-fund and asset-management research
Public-market investors use expert calls as one input within a broader research process — industry demand, distribution channels, competitive behaviour, customer budgets, product adoption, regulatory change, and supply-chain conditions. Expert interviews may help an analyst pressure-test a hypothesis, but should not be used to solicit confidential information or material non-public information. The client remains responsible for applying its own compliance policies to the research process and to any resulting investment decision.
Corporate strategy and M&A
Corporate development, market-intelligence, and strategy teams use expert networks for market-entry analysis, competitor benchmarking, customer research, product and pricing strategy, partnership evaluation, acquisition screening, integration planning, international expansion, and technology and regulatory landscaping. Consulting firms may also use expert calls to supplement desk research, customer interviews, surveys, and in-house subject-matter expertise.
How an Expert-Network Engagement Works
- The client defines the research scope — target sector, company type, expert role, geography, relevant dates, research objective, plus excluded companies, restricted subjects, and any client-specific compliance requirements.
- The network identifies potential experts — searching its existing network and, where appropriate, conducting project-specific custom sourcing, assessed against requested experience (employer, title, functional responsibility, geography, recency).
- Experts are screened — identity, employment history, conflicts, confidentiality obligations, current-employer restrictions, and proposed discussion topics. An expert should not participate where the engagement would require disclosure of confidential information, trade secrets, or material non-public information.
- The client selects and interviews the expert — calls commonly last 30 to 60 minutes by phone or video; the client controls the substantive questions, subject to the provider's engagement rules and the client's own compliance procedures.
- The insight is evaluated alongside other evidence — expert commentary is one research input, compared with financial data, industry reports, customer evidence, regulatory filings, surveys, and other sources.
Expert-Network Compliance and MNPI
Compliance obligations depend on the type of client, the expert, the subject matter, and the intended use of the research; not every engagement is governed by the same framework. Registered investment advisers may be subject to Section 204A of the Investment Advisers Act and Rule 204A-1, which address policies to prevent misuse of material non-public information and establish code-of-ethics requirements. FINRA Rule 3110 requires FINRA-member firms to maintain supervisory systems reasonably designed to achieve compliance with applicable securities laws, regulations, and FINRA rules.
Expert-network controls may include identity and employment verification; conflict-of-interest screening; expert attestations and participation terms; restrictions involving current employers; topic-specific compliance review; instructions concerning confidential information and MNPI; call monitoring where required; and escalation and termination procedures. An expert network's controls do not replace the client's own legal and compliance obligations.
Silverlight Research facilitates primary-research access and project execution. It does not provide investment recommendations or make decisions on a client's behalf.
How Much Do Expert-Network Calls Cost in New York?
Expert-network pricing is not standardised, and location is only one factor. The client price may depend on expert seniority, rarity of the required experience, geography and language, technical or regulatory complexity, urgency, call length, sourcing difficulty, compliance requirements, subscription or credit commitments, and cancellation terms.
Public estimates vary. Silverlight's published industry overview uses an illustrative range of approximately $400 to $1,500 for a standard 45- to 60-minute call, depending on the expert and engagement requirements. A separate 2026 estimate from Inex One places a typical one-hour expert interview at approximately $1,000 to $1,400. These are directional market estimates, not universal rates or binding quotations.
Common commercial models include pay per call or per hour (suits one-off diligence and irregular demand); prepaid credits (simplifies procurement — review expiry, premium-expert multipliers, and unused balances); subscription or access agreements (recurring spend for defined access — suits consistent research volume); and project-based pricing (a defined research programme spanning several interviews, custom recruitment, or surveys). The amount charged to the client should not be confused with the expert's personal hourly compensation.
How to Choose an Expert Network
Assess relevance, not just database size; understand the sourcing model (database vs custom recruitment vs both); examine compliance controls in practice rather than generic "compliant" claims; compare research formats (live calls, surveys, transcripts, advisory, libraries); test commercial transparency (how a standard call is priced, when premiums apply, what happens to unused credits); evaluate service and execution (who manages the project, how fast irrelevant profiles are replaced); and review privacy and cross-border data handling for international projects.
Working With Silverlight Research
Silverlight Research is a globally operating, database-backed expert network structured around a permanent full-time leadership, research, and operations team serving institutional investors, consulting firms, and corporate strategy teams. We provide compliant, time-bound access to independent industry professionals across sectors and geographies to support research, diligence, and strategic decision-making.
Silverlight lists New York among its team locations and supports New York-based clients requiring access to experts across US and international markets. It can support projects requiring former executives and functional leaders; customers and procurement decision-makers; suppliers, distributors, and channel participants; technical and regulatory specialists; market participants in difficult-to-source geographies; and multiple expert calls within a defined diligence workstream.
Silverlight Research Ltd is an active UK private limited company, incorporated on December 27, 2017 under company number 11124869. Its registered office is 78 York Street, London, W1H 1DP.
Request Expert Candidates for a New York Research Project. Send Silverlight the target company, sector, or market; the required expert role; relevant geography; preferred former or current experience; number of consultations; research deadline; and any excluded organisations or compliance restrictions. Request Experts through our client intake.
Published: July 10, 2026. Last fact-checked: July 10, 2026. Recommended next review: January 2027. Methodology: Provider locations, corporate relationships, and services were checked against official company sources; regulatory information against SEC and FINRA materials. Providers are grouped by operating model and relationship to New York rather than ranked. Inclusion does not constitute an endorsement.
