Daniel Blank has been appointed head of the Independent Research Network, the new company formed by the Nasdaq Stock Market Inc. and Reuters to distribute research on firms that get scant analyst attention.

Blank, who comes from Strategic Growth Advisors/Enterprise Analysis Corp., will be responsible for overseeing IRN’s mission to procure objective, independent research for the public companies who seek increased analyst coverage. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Instinet Group Inc. in various senior management roles dealing with research. He left Instinet in 2001 to work as a management and marketing consultant.

IRN will procure and distribute equity research from multiple, independent research providers on behalf of under-covered companies which seek to increase the market’s understanding of their fundamental prospects. The service will be targeted to all companies listed in the U.S., as well as private companies looking for research coverage.

Neither IRN, Nasdaq nor Reuters will play a role in preparing the research or issuing recommendations. IRN will be operated by an independent management team chosen by its board, which is made up of members selected by Reuters and Nasdaq.

“There is serious demand for increased analyst coverage of U.S. public companies,” Blank said. “Not only have Nasdaq and Reuters identified this major unmet need in the marketplace, they have devised, with the IRN, an innovative research coverage model for corporate issuers. I welcome the opportunity to lead a company whose primary goal is to solve this problem,” Blank continued.

According to publicly available data, approximately 50% of all publicly held companies have two or fewer analysts and approximately 35% of all public companies have no analyst coverage. According to Reuters, since January 2002, research coverage has declined significantly with 13.4% fewer companies obtaining research coverage.

The IRN will rely on the soon to be formed Research Independence Panel, a self-governing body made up of experts in the legal, research and regulatory fields. The panel will have no significant ties to Reuters, Nasdaq, or the research providers who the panel will select. The panel will also set the criteria and standards for those research providers participating in the network.