Sunday, September 20, 2009

The Value of Independent Research

A demand for independent securities research came about because of both real and imagined problems, regarding work of securities analysts.

One result: A 2003 settlement imposed by New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer to provide for independent stock evaluation. It forced major securities brokerages to spend $460 million in such research for its non-institutional clients.

The money was duly spent. There is doubt, however, about how much such securities research was used. Undoubtedly, a modicum of independence was achieved. But few investors made practical use of that source of information.

I guess it was a political success at the time the settlement was imposed. But that appears to have been the sum of it.

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