Investment banks
35-494: The CFA Institute Research Challenge is an annual global competition in equity research hosted by the CFA Institute started in 2007. The competition provides university students with hands-on training and mentoring in financial analysis. Students assume the role of a research analyst and are scored based on their ability to value a stock, write an initiation-of-coverage report, and present their recommendations. The competition
70-446: A constrained budget environment require a prioritization scheme. As a way of illustration, the recent development of renewable energy has seen the rise of effective asset managers involved in the management of solar systems (solar parks, rooftops, and windmills). These teams often collaborate with financial asset managers in order to offer turnkey solutions to investors. Infrastructure asset management became very important in most of
105-433: A management system for asset management. The ISO 55000 standard defines an asset as an "item, thing or entity that has potential or actual value to an organization". ISO 55001 specifies requirements for an asset management system within the context of the organization, and ISO 55002 gives guidelines for the application of an asset management system, in accordance with the requirements of ISO 55001. The most frequent usage of
140-614: A result of scandals such as Enron , Lernout & Hauspie and Worldcom where investment banks wrote positive research despite deteriorating fundamentals or fraudulent management. Credit rating agencies such as Moody's , Fitch , and S&P provide a similar service for bond securities. There are also a few retail investor firms such as Morningstar , SEENSCO, Valueline , Zacks Investment Research and AC Investment Research. Qualifications for investment professionals vary by country, with many countries having specific examination boards which handle certification. A notable certification
175-521: A structure of this sort is directly connected to local governance. Enterprise asset management (EAM) systems are asset information systems that support the management of an organization's assets. An EAM includes an asset registry (inventory of assets and their attributes) combined with a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and other modules (such as inventory or materials management). Assets that are geographically distributed, interconnected or networked, are often also represented through
210-585: Is buy-side research or sell-side research ; analysts further focus on particular industries. Although usually associated with fundamental analysis , research also focuses on technical analysis , and reports will often include both. See also Financial analyst § Securities firms . Securities analysts are commonly divided between the two basic kinds of securities: equity analysts (researching stocks and their issuers) and fixed income analysts (researching bond issuers); there are various other financial instruments. There are some analysts who cover all of
245-473: Is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of all value for which a group or entity is responsible. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as complex process or manufacturing plants, infrastructure, buildings or equipment) and to intangible assets (such as intellectual property , goodwill or financial assets ). Asset management is a systematic process of developing, operating, maintaining, upgrading, and disposing of assets in
280-682: Is a term synonymous with physical and infrastructure asset management, it is used to describe management of more complex physical assets which require the application of specialist asset management engineering methods over their life-cycles in order to maximize value for their owners, whilst keeping risk to an acceptable level. SAM is a sub-discipline of IT asset management . The International Organization for Standardization published its management system standard for asset management in 2014. The ISO 55000 series provides terminology, requirements, and guidance for implementing, maintaining and improving an effective asset management system. The key to forming
315-596: Is conducted by sell-side analysts at investment banks and independent equity research boutiques, and is sold to buy-side investors. Buy-side research, however, is usually not published as it is created for internal use at an asset manager or hedge fund . Sell-side research is offered as part of a broad set of financial services including broking and corporate finance . New regulation in Europe, Markets in Financial Instruments Directive II ( MiFID II ),
350-452: Is set to change how research is bought. Research must be "unbundled" from execution costs and priced by the research provider. It has typically been accessed by institutional investors through Thomson Reuters subscription services or Bloomberg terminals but marketplaces like Research Exchange Ltd have emerged where individual research reports or subscriptions can be purchased. Independent equity research has largely sprung into existence as
385-518: Is split by 3 geographical regions, Asia Pacific , EMEA , and the Americas . Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible to participate. Teams begin in local competitions, from which winners advance to regional competitions. A final competition held in April identifies the winning team at the global level. For 2019, more than 6,100 students from over 1,150 universities from 95 countries participated in
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#1732855389502420-704: Is subject to regulation by the securities authorities of the locales where it is performed. The large majority of all sell-side research is performed either in the United Kingdom or the United States. UK sell-side research is regulated by the Financial Services Authority . US sell-side research has a more complex regime of regulation. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has prescribed certain relevant rules (among them Regulation AC and Regulation FD) but has generally delegated research regulation to
455-611: Is the CFA. In the US, as of 2002, investment professionals seeking to become sell-side equity research analysts must pass the Research Analyst examination administered by FINRA . The exam is divided into two parts: 86 and 87. The Series 86 Research Analyst exam is the Quantitative portion consisting of material from introductory economics and financial accounting. The Series 87 Research Analyst exam
490-782: Is the Regulatory portion consisting of material from the Securities Act of 1933 , Securities Exchange Act of 1934 , NASD and NYSE Rules. Prior to the update to the FINRA licensing exams in 2018, the Series 7 examination/license was a pre-requisite for the Research Analyst exams. Now, candidates must pass the Securities Industry Essentials exam before taking the Series 86 and 87. The Series 7 Top-Off and Series 63 exams are sometimes required at
525-445: Is the combination of management, financial, economic, engineering, and other practices applied to physical assets to provide the best value level of service for the costs involved. It includes the management of the entire life cycle—including design, construction, commissioning, operating, maintaining, repairing, modifying, replacing, and decommissioning/disposal—of physical and infrastructure assets. Operation and maintenance of assets in
560-482: Is unclear whether oversight by the New York State Attorney General will become a long-term meaningful component of securities research. The going-forward conduct provisions of a master settlement agreement between (on the one hand) most of the aforesaid U.S. regulators and (on the other hand) many of the largest U.S. broker-dealers, is an important source of ongoing regulation, with the force of law for
595-499: The optimization of costs, risks, service/performance, and sustainability. The term has traditionally been used in the financial sector to describe people and companies who manage investments on behalf of others. Those include, for example, investment managers who manage the assets of a pension fund . The ISO 55000 series of standards, developed by ISO TC 251 , are the international standards for Asset Management. ISO 55000 provides an introduction and requirements specification for
630-664: The self-regulatory organizations . The principal SROs (the National Association of Securities Dealers and the New York Stock Exchange ) have issued detailed regulations of equity research, and much more cursory regulation of fixed income research. (With respect to the latter, the NYSE and the NASD have re-delegated the substance of regulation to the broker-dealer trade group Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association as
665-758: The Asset Management Council (AMC), the World Partners in Asset Management (WPiAM), Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP), the Institute of Asset Management (IAM), the International Society of Engineering Asset Management (ISEAM), and the Global Forum on Maintenance and Asset Management (GFMAM). Engineering asset management is a more recent term that is used to describe
700-418: The broker-dealers who are party to it, and a strong, if not formally legally binding effect, on broker-dealers not party to it. The latest rule changes are coming into effect in Europe under MiFID II . Research has been deemed an inducement to trade and must be "unbundled" from execution costs. The new rules around Research Unbundling are viewed as a major challenge by asset managers as they materially alter
735-460: The competition. Teams are sponsored by a university located within the area of the local competition in which the team wishes to compete. Each university may field up to two teams of three to five members. Equity research Independent Securities research is a discipline within the financial services industry. Securities research professionals are known most generally as "analysts", "research analysts", or "securities analysts"; all
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#1732855389502770-467: The constraints upon such licenses, e.g. a period. If, for example, one licenses software, often the license is for a given period. Adobe and Microsoft both offer time-based software licenses. In both the corporate and consumer worlds, there is a distinction between software ownership and the updating of software. One may own a version of the software, but not newer versions of the software. Cellular phones are often not updated by vendors, in an attempt to force
805-458: The definition of enterprise asset management (EAM) by incorporating the management of all things of value to a municipal jurisdiction and its citizens' expectations. An example in which public asset management is used is land-use development and planning. Increasingly both consumers and organizations use assets, e.g. software, music, books, etc. where the user's rights are constrained by a license agreement. An asset management system would identify
840-499: The developed countries in the 21st century, since their infrastructure network was almost completed in the 20th century and they have to manage to operate and maintain them cost-effectively. Physical, or Infrastructure Asset Management is a growing specialist engineering discipline, with many international technical societies now established to advance knowledge in this area, including the Engineers Australia technical society of
875-602: The fixed income asset classes with the most analyst coverage are convertible bonds , high yield bonds (see high-yield debt ), and distressed bonds (see distressed securities ). Although technically not securities, syndicated bank loans typically fall within the domain of fixed income analysts, and are covered, as if they were bonds, by reference to the industry of their borrowers or asset class in which their credit quality would place them. See Corporate bond § Risk analysis . Research can be further categorized as buy-side research or sell-side research . Sell-side research
910-412: The foregoing terms are synonymous. Research analysts produce research reports and typically issue a recommendation: buy (" overweight "), hold, or sell (" underweight "); see target price and trade idea . These reports can be accessed from a number of sources, and brokerages will often offer the reports free to their customers. Research can be categorized by the security type, as well as by whether it
945-642: The management of complex physical assets, a specific engineering practice that is concerned with optimizing assets, in the context of the organizations goals and objectives, through using multidiscipline engineering methodologies, and Terotechnology (which includes management, engineering, and financial expertise), to balance cost, risk, and performance. Engineering asset management includes multiple engineering disciplines, including but not limited to maintenance engineering , systems engineering , reliability engineering , process safety management , industrial engineering , and risk analysis . Engineering asset management
980-581: The merger successor of the Bond Market Association, to whom the role was originally assigned.) The impact upon securities research regulation of the pending merger of the NASD with the regulatory arm of the NYSE is currently uncertain. In the immediate aftermath of the excesses of the 1990s referred to above, Eliot Spitzer , Governor of the State of New York, asserted a significant role in policing securities research performed by New York-based analysts; it
1015-413: The most cost-effective manner (including all costs, risks, and performance attributes). Theory of asset management primarily deals with the periodic matter of improving, maintaining or in other circumstances assuring the economic and capital value of an asset over time. The term is commonly used in engineering, the business world, and public infrastructure sectors to ensure a coordinated approach to
1050-478: The securities of a particular issuer, stocks and bonds alike. Securities analysts are usually further subdivided by industry specialization (or sectors)—among the industries with the most analyst coverage are biotechnology , financial services , energy , and computer hardware, software and services. Analysts will regularly attend quarterly earnings conference calls ; see also earnings guidance . Fixed-income analysts are also often subdivided by asset class—among
1085-760: The state-level for research analysts. Successful completion of the CFA level I & II exams provides a waiver for the Series 86 exam, but not the Series 87 examination. In Hong Kong, investment professionals must pass the Paper 1 administered by the Hong Kong Securities Institute. Passing this exam allows the individual to receive the Type 4 license to be a publishing research analyst in Hong Kong. Buy-side and independent research are generally unregulated. Sell-side research
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1120-408: The term portfolio manager (asset manager) refers to investment management , the sector of the financial services industry that manages investment funds and segregated client accounts . Asset management is part of a financial company that employs experts who manage money and handle the investments of clients. This is done either actively or passively. Physical and Infrastructure asset management
1155-653: The typical physical assets or infrastructure assets, the soft assets might include permits, licenses, brands, patents, right-of-ways, and other entitlements or valued items. The EAM system is only one of the 'enablers' of good asset management. Asset managers need to make informed decisions to fulfill their organizational goals, this requires good asset information but also leadership, clarity of strategic priorities, competencies, inter-departmental collaboration and communications, workforce, and supply chain engagement, risk and change management systems, performance monitoring, and continual improvement. Public asset management expands
1190-403: The use of geographic information systems (GIS) . GIS-centric asset registry standardizes data and improves interoperability, providing users the capability to reuse, coordinate, and share information efficiently and effectively. A GIS platform combined with information of both the "hard" and "soft" assets helps to remove the traditional silos of departmental functions. While the hard assets are
1225-543: The way in which research has been consumed. Research budgets must be set in advance, payments for research separated from execution, the quality of research regularly assessed, and auditable records of consumption and payments kept. New platforms launched in anticipation of the rules coming into effect. At the same time, accelerator -type initiatives like Boost Research are being created to help independent analysts set up their own businesses for providing independent research and analysis. Asset manager Asset management
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