The Science of Selling Financial Research

What the Buy-Side Wants…

By: Will Richards
September 12 2019

At the Research Alliance, we are proud that our institutional buy-side client base considers us their ‘Trusted Advisors’ when it comes to sourcing independent research, and for sourcing alpha-generating non-consensus investment ideas for their portfolios.

In the past 14 years we have surveyed and met with over 1,500 buy-side investment firms, and closed research deals with nearly 400 of them.  These include multi-trillion dollar mutual funds, to specialized hedge funds with 100s of millions in AUM.

Over the years, in all our meetings, we are continually asking the buy-side the same thing:  “What do you want from your research providers?”

As expected, over time, the needs of the buy-side change.  Staying on top of what the market needs is paramount if you want to grow your business – if you want to convert prospects into paying clients.

In a series of blogs published on the Research Alliance, Twitter, and in partnership with Integrity Research, we’d like to share our views on the independent research space in general, and “What the Buy-Side Wants” in particular.

About Will Richards

Will Richards founded the Research Alliance in 2006 (formally ‘Financial Research Solutions’) to help boutique research firms meet their business development goals. In addition to over two decades of experience in sales and marketing, Will has extensive experience in selling independent financial research to institutional buy-side clients in the US, Europe, and Asia. From 2000 to 2004, Will was a key member of the team at BCA Research that developed a systematic sales process for opening new accounts and managing relationships with institutional buy-side clients. Will holds a Bachelor of Arts from McGill University.