Merrill Lynch has launched Merrill Open Minds, a service that provides alternative research products and services to hedge funds, mutual funds and other investors.

Merrill Open Minds announced yesterday that it has reached an agreement with seven alternative research providers with expertise in extra-financial information, corporate integrity risk, federal policy, healthcare, media, energy and consumer surveys. Merrill will market these research providers to institutional trading clients through the firm’s global institutional and sector specialist sales teams.

“The third-party research market is currently worth $1.5 billion and is experiencing double-digit growth every year,” said Michael Stewart, head of global cash equities at Merrill Lynch. “Moreover, trading volumes are correlated with quality research content, and by complementing our proprietary research with third-party content, we expect to attract incremental trading volumes.”