Vertical Knowledge L.L.C. announced today the appointment of Rayne Gaisford as Chief Data Strategy Officer. In this role, Gaisford will lead efforts to bring an overall innovation strategy to the company data platform to drive new products, enhanced data capabilities, and growth.

Gaisford brings over 20 years of experience to the role of Chief Data Strategy Officer. He joins Vertical Knowledge from Jefferies, where he served as Global Head of Data Strategy, Equity Research. While at Jefferies, Gaisford was an active VK customer, integrating VK's data with Jefferies analysis and driving innovative research using open source data. 

Prior to that, Gaisford spent 15 years on the buy-side as a Chief Risk Officer, senior risk manager, data researcher, and member of the management team of several multi-manager hedge funds. Gaisford began his career on the equity options research team at Goldman Sachs after graduating from the University of Oregon with a degree in Finance. Gaisford also sits on the Alternative Data Advisory Board for BattleFin, and regularly speaks about the data ecosystem.

"Matt and the Vertical Knowledge team have built something truly differentiated, the most robust data platform in the market," said Gaisford. "I have the experience of being a deeply satisfied customer of VK, so I am fully aware of the potential of using VK's platform to drive data strategy and growth with other customers. I am excited to join the team, leverage this platform, and provide actionable insights to our clients."

Matt Carpenter, CEO of VK, added, "We are delighted to welcome Rayne to our team. His hiring demonstrates a significant and ongoing investment in our data product evolution. With his understanding of the data landscape and global reputation, Rayne will lead data product and services development inside VK while providing relevant and impactful insights to clients. We're excited to see how Rayne leads us through a significant product and process transformation."