WARC (August 27)
“Lockdowns have lasted longer than the 66 days research suggests it takes to form a new habit – so 2020 really will be an inflection point when we witness a paradigm shift.” COVID-19 has overturned our entrenched attitudes and assumptions, “halting much of what we have taken for granted, imposing new ways of living our lives and creating new boundaries.”
Tags: 2020, 66 days, Assumptions, COVID-19, Entrenched attitudes, Habit, Inflection point, Lockdowns, Overturned, Paradigm shift, Research
New York Times (May 30)
“E-commerce has been embraced for all manner of goods and services — books, travel, groceries, electronics — but auto sales have resisted the trend.” Consumers do frequently conduct research over the internet, but ultimately “have gone to dealers for most transactions. With the coronavirus and stay-at-home orders, that is changing.”
Tags: Auto sales, Books, Consumers, Dealers, E-commerce, Electronics, Goods, Groceries, Internet, Research, Services, Travel
Professional Pensions (November Issue)
“The problem with ESG fund ratings is primarily that they are fairly new—and are therefore prone to criticism that they are not detailed enough, are missing information, or are failing to analyse certain aspects of companies.” At this stage, “to truly reduce ESG risk exposure, those overseeing funds may need to do their own research and engage with companies to properly inform their decision-making.”
Tags: Criticism, Decision-making, Detailed, Engage, ESG, Fund ratings, New, Research, Risk exposure
Institutional Investor (June 14)
“Companies and their stake holders are increasingly anxious to add more women to their boards, a process that can be fraught with controversy…. But for all the hand-wringing,” a recent study from the Wharton School found that “companies do not perform any better—or any worse—when they have women on their boards.” This is “the research diversity experts don’t want you to read.”
Tags: Anxious, Boards, Controversy, Diversity, Experts, Hand-wringing, Performance, Research, Stakeholders, Wharton, Women
Institutional Investor (April 13)
“The sell side doesn’t quite get it yet,” but a major shift will soon transform their very existence. With Phase two of the EU’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID) scheduled to take effect in January, broker-dealers must “explicitly price a dark art whose cost was previously wrapped into trading commissions (on equity products) or spread (on fixed income). And that, in turn, could put a lot of analysts out of work in Europe, the U.K….and, in time, the U.S. and everywhere else.” Current predictions are that by 2020 global research volume will decrease by around 25% to 60%… or even more.
Tags: Analysts, Broker dealers, EU, MiFID, Research, Sell-side, Spread, Trading commissions, U.S., UK, Volume
Los Angeles Times (March 16)
With his proposed budget, President Trump “would slash education, research, foreign aid and many domestic programs to make room for one of the biggest military buildups in history.” The proposal is unlikely to gain traction. “It’s such a Draconian approach and would inflict so much pain on lawmakers’ constituents — especially in Red State America — that Congress is expected to ignore most of Trump’s proposal.”
Tags: Budget, Buildup, Congress, Draconian, Education, Foreign aid, Military, Pain, Research, Trump, U.S.
Institutional Investor (November 30)
“Today’s asset managers are using sell-side research much differently than they did in the past…. A whopping 66 percent of respondents value sell-side research to a small extent or not at all, and 61 percent already are aggregating market sentiment—as a means of understanding prevailing views or counteropinions—rather than using individual research recommendations.”
Tags: Asset managers, Counteropinions, Individual recommendations, Market sentiment, Prevailing views, Research, Sell-side
Institutional Investor (November 8)
Are we approaching “the end of research as we know it?” The portion of fees that goes to research (equity or bonds) is a mystery, but the veil will soon be lifted. On January 3, 2018, the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II will require “that asset managers break out the costs of research from their own management fees and pay for them separately.” The result will probably be “that less research is spewed.” This could bring “potentially wrenching consequences for the research industry and its core users among active asset managers.”
Institutional Investor (October 2)
The Securities Exchange Commission is conducting a pilot program to determine whether a wider tick range will help drive liquidity and research, while reducing volatility. “Proponents believe a wider spread–$0.05, instead of the current $0.01 on exchanges—will lead to more displayed liquidity and thus an easier trading regime.” Over the next two years, 400 stocks will trade at the widened tick, while 1,200 stocks will serve as a control and two other groups of 400 stocks will test the effects of other variations.
Financial Times (April 3)
“The tide in the debate over the UK’s continued membership of the EU is turning against those campaigning to remain. This is not surprising, but the weakness of their arguments is puzzling.” Relying on scare tactics and narrow appeals to economic arguments misses the mark. “The main economic factors in favour of EU are not trade, but research, science and innovation policy.”
Tags: Debate, EU, Innovation, Membership, Remain, Research, Scare tactics. Economic factors, Science, Trade, UK
