Nextyn vs GLG: An Honest Look at Both Expert Networks

Let us be upfront about something

This article is written by Nextyn. So you might expect it to be a one-sided pitch. It is not. The investment and consulting professionals who read this are smart enough to see through spin, and frankly, the most useful thing we can do is give you a real comparison that helps you make the right call, even if that call is not always Nextyn.

Here is the honest version of how the two networks compare, where each one genuinely wins, and how to figure out which is right for your firm.

A quick word on GLG

GLG, or Gerson Lehrman Group, is the largest expert network on the planet. They have been doing this since 1998 and their brand is as established as it gets in professional services. Their compliance infrastructure is among the most audited in the industry. Their transcript library is substantial. For large-cap deals in North America and Western Europe, they are genuinely hard to beat. They earned that position over decades.

That said, the world their clients operate in has changed faster than their platform has. Deals are increasingly cross-border. Asia and the Middle East are generating more deal flow than ever. And the old model of paying a significant premium for an established brand is being questioned by investment teams of every size.

A real example of where the difference shows up

A mid-market PE fund was running diligence on a diagnostics services chain in India. They requested a shortlist from a legacy network and received profiles back in five days. Three of the five experts were based outside India and had not operated in the Indian healthcare market for several years.

They came to Nextyn. Within 36 hours they were speaking with two former state health ministry officials and a competing diagnostics operator who had watched the target company navigate a reimbursement policy change that never appeared in the data room. That conversation changed both the valuation discussion and the deal structure. The deal still closed, but with downside protections the fund would not have known to ask for.

That is what local sourcing actually means in practice. Not offices on a website. Relationships that surface the right experts, fast.

Situations where Nextyn is the stronger choice

• Your project has meaningful exposure to India, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, the Gulf, or anywhere across emerging markets. Remote sourcing in these geographies produces weaker shortlists.
• You need experts fast because a deal is live. The 24 to 48 hour standard is not a marketing claim.
• You want the research done for you. Nextyn moderated expert call service means your team briefs us on the objective, we source experts, conduct the conversations, and deliver structured intelligence. No dial-in required.
• You need to combine expert calls with B2B surveys or customer interviews in the same engagement.
• You are a mid-market fund or boutique consulting firm and GLG enterprise pricing does not match your actual usage pattern.
• You need dedicated research analysts embedded with your team. The offshore capacity model provides full-time Asia-based analysts at a fraction of in-house hiring cost.

Situations where GLG is the stronger choice

• Your deals are concentrated in the US and Western Europe and you need the deepest possible network in those markets.
• You are at a bulge-bracket institution where GLG is an approved vendor.
• Your investment committee expects to see a specific brand in the diligence process.
• You do significant desk research using existing expert transcripts and want access to GLG library.

The pricing reality

GLG does not publish pricing publicly, but based on market data, annual subscriptions for PE firms typically run from around 80,000 dollars to over 300,000 dollars. Pay-per-use rates fall between 500 and 2,000 dollars per hour.

Nextyn pricing is more transparent. Mid-market PE funds access subscriptions in the 20,000 to 80,000 dollar range annually. Pay-per-use calls run from 200 to 1,000 dollars depending on expert seniority and geography. There is no minimum commitment on project-based work.

Questions people actually ask before choosing

Can Nextyn match GLG expert quality?

In North America and Western Europe, comparable. In India, Southeast Asia, and the GCC, Nextyn is stronger because local teams source locally. The experts who matter most in those markets are found through relationships, not international databases.

Is it possible to use both networks?

Yes, and many funds do. Nextyn for Asia and emerging market projects, GLG for US and European work. Project-based pricing makes this cost-effective without paying for two full annual subscriptions.

How does Nextyn compliance compare to GLG?

Both operate full MNPI frameworks. Every Nextyn expert is briefed on information boundaries before each engagement. The Code of Conduct is publicly available at nextyn.com/code-of-conduct. GLG compliance is slightly more battle-tested due to age and scale, but Nextyn framework is substantive and regularly updated.

What if the expert shortlist is not right?

Nextyn rebuilds it. If a call does not deliver value, the fee is typically waived. This is how the relationship works by default, not a special arrangement.