Deborah Fuhr, a former top analyst covering exchange-traded funds on Wall Street, has started her own ETF research and consulting firm.

Fuhr, who was global head of ETF research at BlackRock Inc. until last October, is running the new firm, ETF Global Insight, from London with former colleagues Shane Kelly and Matthew Murray, according to a press release issued Thursday.

ETFs have come under increased scrutiny from investors and regulators since the global credit crisis and the "flash crash" in May 2010. Fuhr said she hopes to fill a need for better information about the funds.

"The industry will see significant change as investors and regulators demand greater transparency, clarity and information which will benefit investors globally," Fuhr said in the statement.

"While asset growth in the ETF industry has been tremendous, regulators, investors, ETF managers, brokers, index providers and all of the members of the ETF eco-system have been citing the need for more and better independent education, research and customized assistance to investors seeking to navigate the vast array of products. ETF Global Insight has been set up to provide this service across the globe," she said.

Fuhr began covering ETFs at Morgan Stanley in 1997, when the $1 trillion U.S. industry consisted of fewer than two dozen funds worth $21 billion. In 2008, she moved to Barclays Global Investors, then a unit of British bank Barclays and manager of the industry-leading iShares line of ETFs. She became global head of ETF research at BlackRock after the money management giant acquired BGI in 2009.

-Jim McConville