Investment firm buys Alaska economic research company

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Anchorage-based investment firm has purchased Alaska’s largest economic research company.

McKinley Capital Management LLC announced Tuesday it had acquired McDowell Group, which has operated in Alaska for nearly 50 years, Anchorage television station KTVA reported.

McDowell Group principal Susan Bell will take a position on McKinley Capital’s management team as director of economic research and consulting.

“The research we do at McDowell goes hand-in-hand with McKinley Capital’s data-driven method of investing,” Bell said in a press release.

McDowell has offices in Anchorage and Juneau. The research firm’s employees will be retained and integrated into McKinley Capital, which has offices in Anchorage, Chicago and New York and an affiliate in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

McKinley Capital was founded in 1990 by Bob Gillam.