INDEPENDENT RESEARCH PROVIDERS (IRPs)
Why?
1. Specialized Primary Research
IRPs create original research from primary sources on a specific sector or segment where they hold an exceptional level of expertise.
2. Idea Generation
Since most IRPs provide specialty analysis in a particular sector, they are often the first to identify investment ideas in their space, both long and short.
3. Exit Point Identification
Free from investment banking conflicts, IRPs are at ease to deliver bad news on investments, warning clients when to exit positions so profits are locked in.
4. A Trusted Adviser
IRPs balance the positive bias of sell-side research and, due to their niche specialization, they are a good sounding board for funds to discuss investments in that niche.
There are over 70,000 buy-side asset management firms globally. Research boutiques in the Research Alliance typically have only 30 – 50 institutional clients. As such, their information is tightly held and provides a competitive advantage to those who have access to it.
WHAT WE DO
The Research Alliance connects buy-side managers with niche IRPs
Since 2006, the Research Alliance has provided over 300 buy-side firms, including hedge funds, mutual funds, family offices, and private equity firms with primary independent investment research.
The proprietary selection process of the Research Alliance sifts through 1000+ independent research providers globally to identify the firms producing independent investment research not found on the sell-side.
Only a handful of providers are granted membership in the Research Alliance.
Selection Criteria Include:
- Produce proprietary, primary research
- Well-differentiated from sell-side peers
- Conflict-free (no investment banking or underwriting, no trading desk, no money management arm)
- Proven track record, 10+ years
- Clearly defined expertise
- Actionable investment recommendations—long and short
- Meet compliance standards
“Access to independent research from the Research Alliance provided me with key data I was not aware of, allowing me to exit a large position and avoid a significant loss.”
—Research Alliance Client, New York, NY, Hedge Fund 3B AUM
FEATURED RESEARCH
Our current sector coverage includes:
RETAIL
Investing successfully in the retail sector requires an in-store presence. As such, The Retail Tracker performs store and mall visits on a weekly basis. The Retail Tracker provides insights on strategy, merchandizing trends and industry developments highlighting actionable investment opportunities.
Forest Products Research
Understanding how commodity prices move is paramount for successful investing in the Forest Products sector. ERA Forest Products Research has developed proprietary models to forecast inflection points in commodity cycles, helping buy-side PMs with their investments in the sector for over 20 years.
Technology
Summit Tech Research is an independent research firm with a specialized focus on the following tech segments: Enterprise and application software, IT Hardware, Internet, Semiconductors & Semiconductor capital equipment.
Shorts
Established in 1994, Chanos Short Research provides multi-sector short fundamental equity research primarily on U.S. equities. More specifically, Chanos Short Research looks for Overvaluation, Frauds, Fads, Financial Accounting Irregularities, Highly Leveraged, Negative Cash Flow, Low Short Interest stocks with Market Caps of over $1 billion.
Infrastructure
Successfully investing in infrastructure requires a globally unified perspective across individual sub-segments (toll roads, airports, telco towers, etc.) Insight Infrastructure Research provides a fully homogenous integrated analysis including comparable benchmarking of profitability, regulation and valuation for infrastructure assets world-wide.
Metals & Mining Research
For over 30 years, Tumazos Metals & Mining Research has been providing global coverage of the commodities and commodity manufacturers for the steel, aluminum, gold, iron ore, silver, copper, zinc and base metal segments.
Big-Pharma (health care)
Foveal Pharma specializes in determining drug trial outcomes in advance of their publication. Focused on large cap pharma, Foveal excels at identifying when a drug will fall short of expectations or fail, warning investors when to exit positions when this is the case.
Custom Research
With access to a database of 1000+ independent boutiques, Integrity Research sources research and data firms upon request. Typical searches include best of sector independent research, key data aggregators crucial for a niche investment, and compliance-approved surveys.
“Over the years, my subscription to research partners in the Research Alliance has provided key opportunities and valuable information, none of which could be found in sell-side bank or broker research.”
—Research Client, Boston, MA, Mutual Fund, 2 Trillion AUM
