Meanwhile one senior director at a major UK asset manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity, says the focus and depth of the independents’ coverage “trumps a bulge bracket bank with 25-year-olds covering stocks”. Independent research providers command a minor, but growing, portion of the overall research spending pot, according to Integrity Research Associates, an advisory firm In 2007, just 32 independent research houses were nominated by asset managers for Extel’s broker survey in the UK, which ranks research and broking services. By 2016, that number had risen to 53. Meanwhile, Euro IRP, a trade body for independent research, has grown from 10 members in 2004 to 78.

https://www.ft.com/content/551ed82a-f1ff-11e6-8758-6876151821a6