What sources do you use for primary research?

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When I have done networking calls or just talked to other analysts this is always something I ask about. The majority of people think that GLG calls are primary research, but that just isn't going to provide you any kind of edge if everyone does them. Other responses have been that you get a really low return on the time and effort required to conduct primary research sufficiently enough to be able to trust in the mosaic, because for the most part no one can tell you anything of value anymore that isn't already public. The only funds that find this type of work worthwhile are ultra-concentrated, like 10 or less names. The last response I get is that meeting with management and actually visiting the companies is their primary research. I personally think that forming this kind of close relationship with management biases you. I have never met a CEO I didn't like or who told me something negative about their company. If the investment comes down to your gut feeling on someone or how nice their corporate headquarters are it's probably not an investment that was worth making in the first place. That type of analysis is superficial. 

The only time I ever got an interesting response in regards to the primary research question was one guy told me he will just cold message people on linkedin in different departments at his target companies. Low hit rate but said it gives him an interesting perspective on the company, the culture, and perhaps some of its specific functions. I have not personally tried this. 

Using a wide variety of alternative data sources is pretty good primary research, especially if you enrich the data yourself after joining tables and sharding. However this approach requires both $ and creativity, and YMWV based on the specific company.

Also good luck getting anyone to tell you HOW they're using the data. At best they'll tell you which ones they use.  

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Something that people here overlook is that if you work at a small to medium sized fund, you won't even have access to some "basic" things that many people here mention, such as GLG, credit card and alternative data, certain sellside research (if your fund doesn't have a relationship with a bank, good luck getting that research report that you need), getting sellside analysts to take your call, access to inustry reports, access to third party research services, etc. I get contacted all of the time by these service. For example, I recently spoke to a 3rd party forensic accounting service that was started by the foremost expert in the field. There are firms out there who have his team on retainer to work on anything and everything. I have never worked at a large fund, but I can only imagine how much of a luxury it is to be able to have access to all of this information at your fingertips. 

Have you guys heard of Tegus at all?  Really interesting take on primary research.  Tegus.co

Simplistically, there are two buckets of primary research, company and industry. I think from an industry perspective, especially if you're new to a sector, its important to verify info in decks/materials. Government sites, US and also international organization, provide lots of good data on a host of subjects. Much of it you can download too. For sector specific, there is typically at least 1 industry rag (paper or digital) if not more that can provide good insight. Yea you might not be unlocking unknown truths but at a minimum you're getting smart on a sector doing these types of things and at best many people aren't so there is some edge in that regard. For company specific, local papers tend to have way more informative articles/interviews. Often time a company is a big deal in town so there is just much better access and information, hidden gems can be found. For things like retailers, you can go to malls/stores and see the condition they are in and try to talk to the sales manager. I've done this a lot. Or I've also called sales departments inquiring about certain products to hear the pitch, see if any issues have come up, whatever random questions I might have to get an understanding of how thinks work. I don't think any of these things are ground breaking but any little bit helps you're understanding of an industry/company - might not give you edge per se but certainly will help you make an informed decision, which is really all that matters in my view. "Edge" is kinda a bullshit thing 90%+ of the time in my view (speaking fundamentally, not trading). 

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