The days of the rock star research analyst are long gone

BACK in the late 1990s, equity analysts were rock stars. Traders hung on their every televised prediction of just how high the latest dotcom stock would fly.

Today, they are endangered. Two decades of scandals, complaints about overly rosy ratings and regulatory tinkering have taken their toll. Research budgets have shrunk, the number of analysts and their relative experience have fallen sharply and research providers are consolidating to survive. AllianceBernstein’s research arm tied up with Societe Generale last year and TD Bank recently bought Cowen.

Now, UK and EU policymakers are moving to undo much-vaunted 2018 reforms that sought to make sure investors got value for money from research. The question is whether anyone but a devoted CNBC fan should care.