Investment research is usually divided into equity and fixed income, with analysts focusing on how a company's financials — mostly earnings — will affect one or the other.
But independent research shop CreditSights Inc., New York, combines both, for a complete view of a company's capital structure to give investors a better handle on the value of the company's stock and bonds.
"In 2002, the insanity post-Enron helped drive home the fact that credit markets and equity markets are so intertwined today that you have to take a look at the full capital structure," explained Glenn L. Reynolds, one of the founders of CreditSights and its chief executive officer.
Hedge funds also invest across asset classes, making CreditSights' research distinct from traditional research products, he said.
The firm sells its research to more than 500 buy-side and sell-side firms, and Mr. Reynolds said the fastest growing clientele are hedge funds and intermediaries such as broker-dealers and commercial banks.
Before founding CreditSights, Mr. Reynolds and Peter J. Petas, head of research, ran debt research units at Deutsche Bank. Other CreditSights analysts also came from Deutsche.
"We're a bunch of big-organization guys trying to make it in a small-organization setting," he said. "In some ways, we're a bunch of old dogs trying to learn new tricks."
