| Stephen Hammond | ||||||
Attention European equity research analysts: the reports you hear grinding through the paper shredder the next time you are on an institutional client visit may very well be your own.
Such is the sad fact of life for analysts in Europe, where indications are strong that the growing mountain of equity research generated by brokerage houses is going largely unread.
Indeed, with some fund managers saying that as much as 80% of the reports and notes they receive find the bottom of the bin almost as quickly as they hit the desk (see the investor panel), the struggle to reach clients is growing more difficult with each passing day.
A host of factors - from the wide-ranging effects of technology to changes associated with the introduction of the single currency - are conspiring to negate the best efforts of equity research analysts in Europe to add value to client investment decisions.