Writing research reports as a novice

I'm still in university and I'm thinking about publishing my own research online or starting a club and publishing it that way. It's mainly to have a demonstrated interest in the markets and research and to showcase my skills.But, I'm a complete novice. Im comfortable with valuation but that is about it. I'm dead set on this I would really appreciate some guidance. Is this a good idea? Is this feasible? Where do I start? How long should my reports be? Will firms look on this favourably ?

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you could do several formats.

Initiation reports: These reports are long, 10+ pages, 30+ slides (when i did initiation powerpoints when i was in ER, they were always 100+ slides, probably overkill for you)

  1. These reports include everything you could want to know about the company (their biz model, what markets they serve, their competition, their products, their financials, a valuation/market sizing analysis, etc.)
  2. The goal of this report is for someone who is totally unfamiliar to be able to get a grasp on the industry, and more importantly the company itself.

Event/Catalyst/Earnings report

  1. Depending on the sector that you want to write about (e.g., consumer vs biotech vs banks), you will write a short note that is 1-5 pages long.
  2. The goal is this is to be succinct and get to the point of what's changed in the stock
  3. structure it this way (a) what happened (b) how does this affect the stock (c) what is your view on the stock
    1. ideally this is done in literally 4 -6 sentences. this will be your "front page" and then after than you can dive into the details of what happened and summarize the event

firms will most certainly look on this favorably. i did this exact thing, started my own website via Wix and also a Substack and wrote my own pieces on a handful of companies. this single handedly got me into a top ER group, which i was able to leverage into an IB seat. You should be able to find ER reports via your schools database. there is a lot of crap out there, but some analysts write good fundamental research that investors do value.

Go all the way
 

Thanks a lot for this response. How did you bring up your website in the interviews or did you mention it on your resume?

 

I certainly mentioned it during interviews, but also during networking emails/ LinkedIn messages. I’d state this along with a brief intro of myself

“I’ve taken a deep interest in ___ industry and have put together a pitch for ___. I’ve attached my work below and would love to chat about the company and hear your thoughts.”

the person you are interviewing with should already know what work you've done before they even talk with you. the whole point of doing this is to get that interview and show that you have determination and are differentiated from other candidates

Go all the way
 

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