Thirteen sources
The syllabus lists the sources of information on a company, and adds that various paid and free databases can be used alongside them.
- 1Annual and quarterly reports: the most easily available, reliable and consistent source.
- 2Conference call transcripts.
- 3Investor relations (or company) presentations.
- 4Management interviews on the internet.
- 5The company website.
- 6The Ministry of Corporate Affairs website.
- 7Research reports from credit rating companies.
- 8Research reports from other sources, including media reports.
- 9The parent company's annual report and website.
- 10Competitors' websites, including international competitors.
- 11Print media reports on companies.
- 12Discussions with suppliers, vendors, consumers and competitors.
- 13The BRSR report for ESG disclosures.
Reading the list the way the exam does
Chapter 1 split research into what the analyst reads and what the analyst gathers first-hand. On this list, discussions with suppliers, vendors, consumers and competitors are the primary research; nearly everything else is published material to be scrutinised. Rating agency reports connect to the credit rating topic; the BRSR connects to ESG; the MCA website is the statutory record of filings.
Chapter 4 warned that even the annual report, the most reliable source here, is often inadequate, goes stale between publications and does not cover the industry or economy in depth. That is why the list runs to thirteen items and why the primary conversations at the end of it exist.
Start with three years of annual reports and the last four quarterly results; read the conference call transcripts for what management committed to and whether it delivered; check the investor presentation for the KPIs management chooses to show; pull the rating agency's report for the concerns it lists; read the parent's annual report for group exposure; look at the international competitor's website for where the product is heading; and finally talk to two distributors and a supplier to test what the filings claim.
- Annual and quarterly reports are the most easily available, reliable and consistent source of company information.
- Company-produced sources: conference call transcripts, investor relations presentations, management interviews online, the company website, the parent company's annual report and website, and the BRSR for ESG disclosures.
- Third-party sources: the Ministry of Corporate Affairs website, research reports from credit rating companies, media and print reports, competitors' websites including international competitors, and discussions with suppliers, vendors, consumers and competitors, plus paid and free databases.