London, 12th February 2026: Substantive Research, the research and market data discovery and spend analytics provider, today announces that it has entered into a new partnership with Watchdog Data Services, the provider of data licensing risk assessment, mitigation, and optimisation services.

The combination of Substantive Research’s benchmarking transparency, alongside Watchdog Data Services’ insights into strategic data management and negotiation, ensures that clients can proactively address the twin challenges of an ever-increasing demand for data and continued pressure on market data budgets.

Consumers of market data will now be able to access Substantive Research’s granular, apples-to-apples market data price benchmarking alongside Watchdog’s expertise and structural insights to understand the opaque pricing environment in ratings, indices, ESG data and terminals in even more detail.

Mike Carrodus, CEO of Substantive Research, said: “We’re delighted to announce this partnership with Watchdog Data Services which will further enhance the vital pricing intelligence that we can provide to our clients. John’s track record and considerable expertise are well understood in the industry, and we look forward to working together to deliver strategically valuable insights to market data consumers in 2026 and beyond.”

Watchdog Data Services is led by its founder and managing partner, John White, the ex-CEO of 3d Innovations and senior alumnus of the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) and State Street Global Advisors. John added: “We are excited about our formal partnership with Substantive Research, which over the last several years has become a leader in benchmarking market data costs. Enabling our clients to access highly accurate and targeted benchmarks on market data sources will further enhance our services.”