A FORMER City analyst has started a company that will give private investors access to stockbroker research normally reserved for the big players in exchange for a monthly fee.
Rob Mundy, 33, has already signed up 17 brokers to his new company, Research Tree. The former Credit Suisse analyst plans to charge £40 a month for access to a live database of notes and stock recommendations from firms such as Liberum Capital, FinnCap and Panmure Gordon .
The company’s launch comes at a torrid time for brokers, who are being squeezed by a fall in stock market offerings and lower commissions. New regulations are also set to slash the fees that investment firms pay them for research on individual stocks. Several small operators have recently shut or cut jobs.
The potential new revenue stream will not save brokers — some institutions would pay hundreds of thousands of pounds a year for research. It will, however, offer private investors access to previously unattainable opinions.