Fairfield, Connecticut-based Cogent Investment Strategies has announced the launch of CogentMarkets, a web-based platform created to facilitate secondary trading of investments in hedge funds, private equity and venture capital funds.

The website will offer qualified investors and institutions the ability to locate funds they wish to purchase or post funds they wish to sell in a bulletin board format with disclosure of bids and offers.

The website will list both domestic and offshore funds and expects to have a global audience of the largest investors and financial institutions.

Transactions are not consummated on the website. Rather, Cogent Investment Strategies seeks to introduce interested buyers and sellers so that they may finalise transactions.

Cogent Investment Strategies is owned by Glen Beigel and Robert Doeberl and has provided third-party marketing services to alternative investment funds since 1999. The firm is also affiliated with CogentHedge, a hedge fund performance analysis database.

Thomas Prunty has joined Cogent Investment Strategies and will be principally responsible for operating CogentMarkets and its activities.

He was previously global head of fund derivative sales for BNP Paribas and earlier held positions running a client service team and an operations group for fund derivatives at BNP.