Buy Side

Equity Research Tutorials

What is Buy Side?

Buy Side is a terminology used to include institutions which are involved with the purchase of investment services such as Private Equity funds, Mutual funds, Hedge funds, Life insurance firms, Pension funds etc. The financial analyst who works for such firms are known as Buy Side Analyst. This concept has to be viewed from the perspective of securities exchange services and “buy side” are the buyers of the services. On the other hand, ‘sell side’ are the sellers of the services. They are also known as ‘Prime brokers’.

Importance of Buy Side

The buy firms make up one of the financial markets with the sell side comprising the second half.

These firms are the money managers aiming to create value for their clients by purchasing assets which are potentially under-priced.
They make use of complicated and sophisticated strategies which they believe can give them an edge over the other investors.
Buy-side analysts conduct research for internal usage and if they derive any strategy that can help in beating the market, it is kept away from the public.

Examples of Buy-Side Firms

The buy-side will invest the assets owned by HNI’s (High-net-worth individuals), Affluent sections of the society and family offices. These assets will be either directly invested by the investors or outsourced to third-party managers acting as fiduciaries on behalf of these owners. These managers constitute the buy-side.

Some of the examples of the buy-side firms are:

Fidelity Funds
T Rowe Funds
Vanguard Funds

Buy Side Analyst Job Description

source: indeed.com

On a daily basis, the buy side analysts are responsible for benefitting the funds with high returns and avoiding technical mistakes which can cost the performance of the money being managed. Some of the activities include:

Reading the daily financial news and tracking associated information
Building and maintaining various financial models to gauge the performance of investments
Making stock recommendations which ensure definite profits and deepen their knowledge of their area of responsibility.
The research process is genuine and there is no commercial aspect involved and efforts are made on identifying investment opportunities.
They also attempt to find the best sell-side analysts in their area of expertise. It’s to be noted that research done by sell-side analysts directs the buy side firm to execute trades through their trading department thereby creating profits for the sell-side firm.

Buy Side Analyst – Requisite Skills

One should also keep a note of certain skill sets which are essential for a buy-side analysts such as:

Winning new business opportunities
Industry Research
Excel skills
Research report generation in a sophisticated manner
Pitchbook presentation
Client relationship management
Selling and successful closing of deals

Examples of Buy Side Advisor

When an investment banking firm is offering its advisory services to a firm for acquiring another company, the investment banking is called as a buy-side advisor.

A buy-side engagement shall include the following:

Target Identification – it usually requires significant knowledge or market research to assess the potential firms which match the criteria of the buyers.
Target Assessment – This involves mandatory research on the financial performance of the target as well as the existing management team for determining if it fits into the overall future plans of the acquirer.
Valuation – This typically includes a value of the target based on the position in the specific industry or what the buyer is willing to pay.
Structuring – This involves making an assessment of what capital structure suits best for the buyer while satisfying the expectations of the target.
Letter of Intent (LOI) – This step consists of crafting and presenting the LOI on behalf of the buyer. It generally consists explanation on how the Enterprise Value (EV) is calculated and the break-down of the proposed capital structure.
Due Diligence – Buy-side advisors are heavily involved in the due diligence generally for the buyer. The primary responsibility is to prove the various assumptions considered during the target assessment and valuation stage.
Closing Stage – It consists working with other advisors, accountants, lawyers and tax personnel for ensuring all aspects are minutely assessed upon the close of the transaction.

Limitations of Buy Side

Certain limitations of the buy-side firms are:

These firms cannot involve external investors in trading based on their research conducted.
Such buys side analysts are prohibited from releasing any private recommendations.
They are restricted from any kind of brokerage activities for investors. Also, they cannot be involved in earning any kind of Brokerage commissions and Transaction costs.
Investment costs and losses while buying the securities are covered by the buy-side firm and cannot be outsourced.