There was a clear theme to this year’s conference, and it’s fundamental to what we do at Singletrack: AI in investment research. This thread ran through all six panels, and it’s clear that while AI has brought about big changes to this and many other industries already, we’re only at the beginning of the transformation it will drive.

Are we ready for AI in capital markets?

Across the buy side and the sell side, there are varying levels of maturity and adoption when it comes to AI tools, and the excitement of new possibilities is tempered by concerns about compliance and control of data. For the buy side, there’s a lot of value in AI-backed tools that allow greater volume and greater precision in research consumption. Panelists pointed towards tools such as natural language search as especially valuable. However, buy side participants stressed that these tools don’t replace interactions. If anything, they free up more time for them.

On the sell side, there’s anxiety about feeding valuable research content into distribution channels which can’t be easily tracked or controlled. While IP protection is certainly a factor, this concern is also relevant to buy side client experience: without control over distribution, how can the sell side ensure the buy side can access relevant content? Echoing the importance of interactions, sell side panelists urged their colleagues to remember that written research content and data are only aspects of the sell side value proposition. People will always want meetings with skilled analysts and promising corporates.

Increasing AI adoption is closely linked up with another ongoing trend in investment research: the blurring of data and research into a larger category – many believe it will become, simply, ‘content’. Making sense of this vast pool of highly varied data cries out for automation tools, at the same time as it seems capable of providing the perfect input for their work.

The risks: bias and control of investment research IP

Participants on all sides of the investment research industry need to be vigilant about the shortcomings of AI and the risk of bias. Users need a good understanding of how AI technology delivers answers to queries, and it’s up to vendors to assist and empower users to achieve this. An example is Singletrack’s new Semantic Search, which allows research consumers to ask natural-language questions of a research library and receive an answer backed up by references in report text, making it easier to incorporate into investment decisions, and reducing the risk of inaccuracies and hallucinations. AI has huge potential as an assistant to investment professionals using research content of all types: it can curate, summarise, link and search. All this will help market participants on all sides gain back more of their most valuable resource of all: their time.

Quality not quantity: the buy side view 

The buy side is looking for quality rather than quantity, prioritising a smaller number of deeper relationships. They’re looking for quality, differentiated research, particularly from specialists, to feed into investment decisions. Combining content and content types in new ways to find these actionable insights is also a theme. Many buy side firms are experimenting with LLMs to help with ingestion, and are merging traditional research and market data in their internal databases.

The question of transparency was another theme running through many of the panels. Buy side participants took it to mean giving people the information they need to provide better service, and stressed that it’s key that transparency runs both ways. In fact, it can even be seen as a currency in relationships between the buy and sell sides. Panelists also stressed that it’s especially important to deal transparently around scarce resources – for example corporate access events with limited capacity.

Evolving requirements and the value of feedback: the sell side view 

In response to a shifting market and evolving buy side requirements, the sell side are focused on broadening their service to include data, new tools and new delivery methods. However, this is contributing to ongoing challenges around determining value and ensuring that research products and services are appropriately remunerated.

For their part, the sell side view on transparency is that detailed communication and more granular scorecards will help firms decide where to invest in order to deliver the most value to the sell side. Panelists also pointed out that it’s easier to service clients who provide detailed feedback. This is, however, a challenge for small firms who both stand to benefit from good, transparent feedback to the sell side, and face a resourcing struggle to provide it. The sell side stressed that detailed feedback is extremely valuable, and they have resources and processes designed to incorporate it into their operations and development. It’s time well spent. 

Hybrid events and new tech tools: corporate access in 2025

In a theme familiar since the pandemic, hybrid access remains important as professionals, especially those in the c-suite, remain selective about travel. In fact, with time at a premium, the ability to be selective and strategic is key across corporate access as a whole: companies reported that they want to be able to choose who they meet and proactively make strategically informed decisions. Overall, the landscape is increasingly competitive as activity increases. Innovative formats can help sell side firms stand out. That means going beyond traditional conference formats to offer access to subject matter experts, site visits, etc.

Investor relations teams are increasing their adoption of specialised technology, such as outreach tools and CRMs. However, access to data about who is consuming research about them and AI targeting tools are still not available. There is space to profitably incorporate AI-backed tools to increase event impact.

The future of investment research

This year’s discussions underlined the transformative impact of AI on investment research. It’s influencing all areas of market activity, from how we define investment research, through production and distribution, into consumption and incorporation into investment decision-making. While a lot has changed already, it’s clear that much further innovation is coming fast. On the buy side and the sell side, firms must ensure they’re prepared to embrace the opportunities and guard against the risks. If not, they’ll be left behind by their competitors.

Singletrack is a market leader in AI-backed technology tools for the sell side, with over 14 years’ experience incorporating it into workflows that help sell side professionals every day. To find out how we can help you make the most of AI for capital markets, get in touch now.

Singletrack

Published: 04/07/2025