BNP Paribas Investment Partners, the asset management arm of BNP Paribas Group of Paris, has launched Fridson Investment Advisors, an investment management firm based in New York and specializing in corporate credit opportunities.
Richard S. Hollander is the chairman of the new firm's board of directors, Marty Fridson is its chief executive officer, and Tom Shandell its chief investment officer.
"At FIA, research will inspire our investment strategy and take center stage," Mr. Fridson said in a press release issued Tuesday. "We want to develop a company that challenges the transparency issues in the investment world and offers clients more access and more knowledge about our strategy and investment process."
In 2002, Mr. Fridson established FridsonVision LLC, an independent research company that focused exclusively on high-yield strategy.
Mr. Fridson announced last week that he was stepping down as the publisher of Leverage World, a high-yield research publication he created after leaving Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc. in 2002.
Leverage World will continue publishing under the lead of Christopher Garman, the former head of global high-yield strategy at Merrill.
BNP Paribas had $531.8 billion of assets under management as of Dec. 31.
Fridson Investment Advisors plans to offer a variety of investment products, possibly including managed accounts and pooled vehicles.
