Broadridge Financial Solutions, , announced this Thursday that it has acquired MackayWilliams. As a provider of fund market analysis and research, MackayWilliams will slot in well with Broadridge’s existing service offering.

The acquisition of MackayWilliams follows a pattern of deals made by Broadridge over the past couple of years. In 2016, , a provider of advisor compensation management solutions to wealth management funds. A year later, the company bought Spence Johnson, a firm that provides research services to asset managers and insurance companies.

The missing piece of the puzzle?

MackayWilliams should fit neatly alongside these acquisitions as well as Broadridge’s existing services. In today’s announcement, Broadridge highlighted its new acquisition’s insights into European mutual fund trends, brand perceptions and fund selector behaviour as being of particular significance.

Broadridge noted that these insights will work well in conjunction with their existing fund data and analytic solutions. MackayWilliams is able to gather its insights via its Fund Buyer Focus solution that provides data pertaining to 1,000 annual fund buyer interviews. On top of this it provides market research and trend analysis through a number of different subscription services.

Dan Cwenar, Head of Asset Management Data and Analytics, Broadridge commented on the deal, saying: “the acquisition of MackayWilliams complements our existing global asset management intelligence offerings. The firm’s team have developed a deep understanding of fund selectors’ buying behavior across European asset management hubs with extensive historical data and insights to draw on in each region.”