InvestorForce Goes Offroad

With a NASD license in the pipeline, InvestorForce.com is already adapting its revenue model away from a database and subscription-driven model to that of a placement agent, with private equity included in its mix of offerings.

Earlier this month, the Wayne, Penn.-based company provided a hint of what’s to come by offering a showcase on its site to online securities marketplace OffRoad Capital, a San Francisco-based online dealer.

Money is not changing hands on either side of the deal, but if an institutional investor places an order with OffRoad, InvestorForce will take a piece of the commission as a referral fee once it receives its NASD broker-dealer license.

InvestorForce expects to receive its license at some point next year, said Alison Cohen, director of product management with InvestorForce. Before it begins taking in fees as a placement agent, however, InvestorForce will continue to rely on its database of fund managers to drive revenue. It will also charge companies for showcase space on its own Web site.

Not Alone

At the same time, OffRoad will be able to leverage InvestorForce’s audience of plan sponsors, institutional investors and consultants and its content rich Web site to drive traffic back and forth between the two sites.

“InvestorForce is making its first foray into private equity with us,” said Greg River, a spokesman for OffRoad. “They’re using a Web-enabled business model to reach a fragmented business audience and that’s complementary to what we’re doing in the private securities arena.”