There are tools that finance professionals simply cannot do without. And while it’s easy to rely on the same platforms over and over again, you do yourself a disservice by limiting your arsenal of research tools.
In our recent report, we looked at how investors are utilizing AI to give their investment decisions a competitive edge. While you may be proud to finally have your perfect monitor setup, you lose precious time every second you aren’t leveling up your research. Top investors differentiate themselves by not only monitoring their numbers, but by surfacing the right insights from the infinite amount of qualitative data at their fingertips.
With that being said, here are four things you’re missing out on by only using Bloomberg.
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Smart Synonyms
When’s the last time you CLTR + F’ed through a 100-pg document, only to find nothing of use? Probably far more often than you even have time for.
Keyword searches only pull the data that is an exact match of what you type in. For example, when you search a topic such as “inflation”, you miss sources that may discuss inflation as a “rise in cost of living” or an “expanding economy”. More advanced search engines incorporate something called a synonym library, which is a bank of words that are manually updated by a human. So if you search for “revenue,” you may get hits for other words such as “sales”.
In other words, it’s up to the user to find the search terms that work through trial and error, which leaves you at risk of missing key hits. More critically, you end up wasting valuable time. The most advanced search engines are AI-powered. AlphaSense’s Smart Synonym technology uses machine learning to automatically expand your query. Over time, the algorithm will get smarter and deliver increasingly relevant and expanded results for a term. This is the differentiator in having tools that work for you and enable you to surface the right insights so you can spend more time on what’s important.
UX
In the past, high-caliber tools were complicated to use because engineers had to choose between functionality and simplicity. However, as technology has advanced, the most sought-after tools are ones that deliver powerful results but require minimal effort to operate. This is the same for investment research technology. While you may take pride in getting over the steep learning curve of the Bloomberg Terminal, you won’t need to read an 86-page manual to find the magic button that will make our product work. A cleaner and more intuitive user interface means less time trying to learn the tool, and more time actually doing the research.
Related Reading: 5 Investment Research Best Practices That Will Save You Hours
Accessibility
Hybrid or remote work arrangements are no longer just a perk but a necessity. Whether you’re in the office or on the couch, you should always have access to the tools that make your job easier.
While some tools may require special keyboards and multiple monitors to run properly, there are others that are just as powerful in the palm of your hands. AlphaSense enables you to start research at your desktop and take it on the go through an app on your mobile phone or tablet.
You also have the ability to download sources so that you can do your job without the internet. Your 3-hour flight won’t feel as unproductive anymore.
Expert Call Transcripts
Historically, the only way to get this type of intelligence was to conduct calls yourself. Luckily, with the rise of expert call transcripts, you can now access an on-demand, fully searchable, library of expert calls.
Why waste time rummaging through LinkedIn for a contact when you can just search a library of experts who are currently active in their field? You can listen to the calls, similar to a podcast, or use an AI-powered search engine to filter through the transcripts to find key sections of importance. Now, you can put to rest the small voice in your head saying that you missed something big everyone else already knows.
Looking to streamline your workflows and speed up your time to reach alpha? Learn how to leverage AI and NLP to cut down on research time in our white paper, How AI is Shaping the Future of Investment Research.
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An educator and strategist by training, Su Kim is the Product Marketing Manager for the Financial Services vertical at AlphaSense. Previously, she managed a client portfolio of S&P 100 companies in the industrials sector in one of the top 3 banks in the U.S.
Read all posts written by Su Kim
