 
Scott Rosen is CEO of investment research technology firm Visible Alpha.
How will research delivery change in 2017?
Before the rise of the Internet, Regulation FD and the proliferation of investor-oriented data services, well-connected and well-funded brokerage analysts enjoyed a dramatic information asymmetry with their buy-side clients. Simply analyzing and reporting on the data they had readily available made their research worth paying for. This opportunity for information arbitrage has waned, and sell-side analysts now need to provide deep and differentiated insight in order to be useful to their clients.
Scott Rosen,
Visible Alpha
What was a long-term trend, however, is now coming as a flood. Changing economics are causing investment managers to become much more cognizant of the holistic costs of the sources of intelligence they rely on to help create sustainable alpha. A combination of regulatory changes in Europe, the continuing rise of passive management and margin pressures from an increasingly competitive market are now forcing active managers to focus much more closely on performance and operational efficiencies, including increased scrutiny of the return on their research outlays. Just as portfolio managers are progressively incorporating more quantitative elements into their fundamental analysis, so too will broker liaison personnel be required to find hard data to augment the traditionally qualitative valuation of the research services they consume.
Faced with intense competition for clients’ tightening wallet, sell-side firms will be looking to differentiate their research offerings and prove their value while, at the same time, gaining efficiencies in and better control over the distribution of their intellectual capital. Understanding how clients are consuming their research and valuing their services through a more transparent broker review process will enable the sell-side to optimize their content creation and distribution and provide the buy-side with tailored information and services from which they can gain more valuable insights.
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
And receive exclusive articles on securities markets
It's been a month since we had our Women In Finance Awards in New York City at the Plaza! Take a look back tab some moments, and nominate for our upcoming awards in Mexico City and Singapore here: https://www.marketsmedia.com/category/events/
4
Citadel Securities told the SEC that trading tokenized equities should remain under existing market rules, a position that drew responses from various crypto industry groups. @ShannyBasar for @MarketsMedia:
SEC Commissioner Mark Uyeda argued that private assets belong in retirement plans, saying diversified alts can improve risk-adjusted returns and that the answer to optimal exposure “is not zero.” @ShannyBasar reporting for @MarketsMedia:
COO of the Year Award winner! 🏆
Discover how Jennifer Kaiser of Marex earned the 2025 Women in Finance COO of the Year recognition.
Related articles
-
The technology harnesses burgeoning data volumes to provide faster, more customizable insights and distributio...
-
There has been less Wall Street research for small and medium-sized companies since 2004.
-
This marks the next step in ING’s strategy to use large language models for financial intelligence.
-
This year marks the flagship report's 30th anniversary.
-
Most research budgets will become client-funded within the next two years.