New Investor Product Group Is High on DM

FINANCIAL COMMUNICATIONS CO., a newly formed group of financial magazines and services, is taking its first steps into DM.

In September the firm established a Web site (www.fisonline. com) for Financial Information Services, publishers of Moody’s Manuals, which it acquired in July. Moody’s lists companies worthy of being considered by individual investors, and offers data and the opportunity to open an account.

The next step for Federal Communications is to build a consolidated database, pulling together names from all of its separate products. The mission: to expand into the emerging market of sophisticated individual investors while maintaining existing customer bases.

Federal Communications is the brainchild of Robert S. Andrealis, chairman of investment firm Berwick Capital, in New York. He put together the components of the new entity in little more than a year.

Futures Magazine, “the bible of the futures and options industry,” was acquired 14 months ago, contributing a circulation of 80,000. Research Magazine, with 100,000 names, was purchased in April. It covers stocks and bonds.

Buyside, aimed at professional financial managers, came into the fold in June with 35,000 names. A month later, Federal Communications introduced Investor Direct, a subsidiary product designed to target the growing investment clubs market. It now has 36,000 names.

Total revenue for the acquired companies exceeds $70 million, “but growth had slowed and had almost come to a standstill,” Andrealis says.

In addition to the editorial analysis offered by the publications, data contributed by professional investment consultants is provided. Andrealis notes that Futures sells commodity price charts for both the agricultural and financial industries, with those different needs noted in the information database. A combined weekly newsletter, Trends in Futures, is also published.

For professionals, current publications and information services will be improved and products will be added, says Andrealis. Federal Communications will continue to operate the Futures Learning Center, which trains brokers and traders.

The 30,000 names that came with Moody’s Manuals brought the overall database to approximately 300,000. Upgraded computer systems and a national communications network will be in operation in Charlotte, NC, by the end of this month. Federal Communications plans to analyze the information in the separate “rudimentary” databases, and add demographic and sociological overlays for profiling and modeling for prospecting.