Why 6 months specifically?

Empirical convergence rather than statutory requirement. Reflects the typical duration over which company-specific MNPI degrades to non-material. Institutional buyers' compliance teams have endorsed the standard.

Are cooling-off periods enforceable across networks?

Each network enforces its own policy. An expert subject to a 6-month cool-off at network A cannot circumvent it by joining network B with looser policy — institutional buyers will reject the expert based on their own internal policy.

What about discussion of an expert's former employer at a high level?

Cooling-off applies to direct company-specific discussion. General industry trends and observations that don't reveal company-specific information are typically permitted. Edge cases are escalated to the network's compliance function.

Cooling-Off Period

A cooling-off period is the mandatory waiting time between when an expert departs an employer and when they may be matched to expert-network briefs discussing that specific employer. Industry standard is 6 months for publicly-traded employers; shorter periods (typically 3 months) apply for non-public employers.

Term: Cooling-Off Period
Section: Glossary
Last refreshed: Q1 2026

01/In Depth3–5 paragraphs

The cooling-off rule recognises that MNPI degrades in value over time. Information that's material on the date of departure may no longer be material 6 months later — earnings have been reported, strategic plans have been disclosed, market dynamics have shifted.

The 6-month standard for public companies has converged across major networks (GLG, AlphaSights, Guidepoint, Third Bridge) and is reflected in institutional buyers' compliance policies. Some sectors enforce longer cooling-off (12 months for sensitive areas like upcoming clinical trial data in pharma).

Cooling-off applies to discussing the former employer specifically. Experts can typically discuss general industry trends and other companies in the same category immediately after departure — the constraint is on direct discussion of their own former employer.

From the expert's perspective, cooling-off doesn't pause their network participation, only narrows the briefs they can be matched to. An expert with 15 years' industry experience can typically be matched to category-level briefs even during their cooling-off on their most recent employer.

02/Examples4 concrete cases

+A former VP at a publicly-traded SaaS company waiting 6 months before being matched to briefs discussing that company
+An ex-pharma executive waiting 12 months because their topic involves upcoming clinical data
+A former employee of a private company waiting only 3 months for category-level discussion
+An expert immediately available to discuss adjacent companies in their industry, even during cooling-off on their former employer

03/Frequently Asked3 questions

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04/See AlsoWhere this applies

04.2

INVESTMENT THESIS VALIDATION

Test the assumptions underlying your investment thesis before you commit capital.

05/Related Terms2 suggestions

EXPERT ATTESTATION

An expert attestation is a short pre-call confirmation by the expert that they: (a) hold no Material Non-Public Infor…

COMPLIANCE FRAMEWORK

An expert-network compliance framework is the integrated set of controls a reputable network operates to ensure exper…

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