Hitting the Streets

It was an interesting scene at 745 7th Ave!

Calling All Analysts!

Unfortunately, the markets are a mess and it’s causing some panic at bulge bracket research desks all across the industry. If you’re a Wall Street analyst that hasn’t been laid off yet, then you’re probably sitting in your office wondering what’s next.

In uncertain times, you have to do what right for you. At StreetBrains, we empower analysts to do just that. No matter what happens, the buyside needs to maintain coverage and access to talented analysts. We deliver targeted research to powerful clients. Our operation proves that you don’t need put limits on investment insight. The analysts write research on their terms – we do the heavy lifting.

Street Brains values the diversity of talent in the industry and is looking for new research providers to join our platform. In an effort to court those whose security in the bulge brackets may be a bit doubtful, Street Brains will be hitting the road with a billboard truck that will be touring Manhattan. Keep an eye out for our sign, and if you would like any more information about who we are or what we do, or if you’re an analyst looking for details about joining our platform, feel free to contact us at 212.430.3000.














Key Messages of the Campaign

• Street Brains offers Wall Street analysts the opportunity to write valuable investment research on their own terms and cover markets the way they want to, with more freedom than ever before. If they go independent, they have more choices. Through our partnership with InfoEx, we enhance the delivery of information to our buyside clients, offering seamless navigation of research.
  


• Street Brains analysts draw outside the lines. In our view, duplication of analysts is a good thing. We empower individuals to work outside the restrictions of bulge bracket firms.
  


• Street Brains is a trusted research partner, providing services that help the buyside during this harsh time of consolidation and change. We offer continuity. With InfoEx, we provide relevance in information gathering – content directed the way you want it.
  


• The buyside needs to maintain coverage and access to talented analysts. With the appropriate exposure, our analysts attract the attention of many powerful clients.
  


• Ours is a “virtual” world. If an analyst loses his infrastructure, does that mean the buy-side should suffer decreased coverage? Street Brains provides a new kind of infrastructure where research and targeted distribution operates hand-in-hand.
  


• Street Brains provides a conduit for virtualization of research departments. Street Brains helps with the heavy lifting – marketing, sales and distribution. Our partner, InfoEx, helps maximize the distribution channels and caters to the client through methods that best serve their needs.

A Time to Vet

We do it every day, whether we realize it or not - when we meet and greet, when we dine, when we work, when we watch TV. We are vetting everything in increments. We are judging people, situations, events, products, even ourselves, almost every hour of the day. We quickly roll questions around in our heads like laundry in a dryer until we can make a decision on whether or not we want to accept someone or something into our lives.

Sarah Palin had to overcome a few obstacles this past week. She proved that no matter who you are, what you look like or how you speak, someone will always be asking, “How’d you get here?”

Who is she? What’s her background? Why Palin? Why a governor from Alaska? What has she done?

On the heels of her VP announcement and the unfolding of her teen daughter’s pregnancy, the republican vetting process was called into question. Everyone wanted to know how much exploration went in to her nomination. Many were confused as to what a vetting process even looks like. In the end, no one really knows what went into the vetting of Governor Palin, but if you’ve ever stringently vetted someone before, you might know that its not like finding a good cup of coffee – it’s so much more.

Interestingly, the StreetBrains website enjoyed a spike in web traffic this week with many visitors viewing our vetting process page. Many seemed to want to know more about the process and what it meant. Were they looking for answers as to how Sarah Palin was evaluated to be McCain’s running mate?

At the core of the StreetBrains vetting process is a meticulous examination of value. Before an analyst joins our platform, we want to know exactly what he or she has to offer our clients. We assess their professional history, methodology, points of differentiation, and the unique value their research provides. What can this research provider deliver? Do they have credibility? What do they do and what is the advantage?

Vetting is not a simple procedure. It takes a good amount of time and requires our undivided attention – we know because we do this every day. Essentially, the process necessitates a series of pointed questions that should challenge whatever or whomever you are vetting.

The days of plastering a pretty face on the screen and assuming your audience will bite are long gone. The recent interest in vetting proves that your audience needs and expects more. Vetting is a process that should be taken seriously. Our analysts are put through it, our leaders are put through it – perhaps accountability isn’t lost on our society quite yet.