1.8.3.3Vertical

Investment Research Services

Independent providers producing equity and credit research.

Market snapshot

These figures describe Economic & Financial Research (1.8.3), the segment that Investment Research Services sits within. They are not figures for Investment Research Services on its own.

Market size
~$9.3B
Growth
~5.7%CAGR (2017–22, nominal)
Companies
~1,787 firms
Firms by employee count

83.4% of firms have fewer than 20 employees: 1,490 micro-businesses, below most mandates.

The investable universe297 firms with 20+ employees
20–99
19666%
100–499
6221%
500+
3913%

A small, high-value niche of think tanks, economic consultancies, and policy-research shops. It is also geographically the most concentrated business in this sector (see below), because its buyers are federal. Note the scope: sell-side investment research inside securities firms is a different world, counted under finance, not here.

NAICS 541720. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Business model & economics

Revenue model

Subscription research plus custom advisory and forecasting

Key economics

Revenue per firm
$5,203,355
Revenue per employee
$168,559
Employees per firm
26.8
Recurring revenue
Moderate–High

subscription research recurs

EBITDA margin
18–30%
Capex intensity
Low

Characteristics

  • Balanced cost base: payroll is 42% of revenue, leaving room to scale margin without cutting staff
  • Moderate strategic-buyer pool: 39 firms exceed 500 employees, so a scaled asset has buyers, but not many
  • Proprietary models and forecasts are the core asset.
  • Subscription research provides recurring revenue.
  • Overlaps securities-industry research and economic consulting.

NAICS 541720. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses; U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Economic Census.

Geographic concentration

AlabamaAlaskaArizonaColoradoFloridaGeorgiaIndianaKansasMaineMinnesotaNew JerseyNorth CarolinaNorth DakotaOklahomaPennsylvaniaSouth DakotaTexasWyomingConnecticutMissouriWest VirginiaIllinoisNew MexicoArkansasCaliforniaDelawareHawaiiIowaKentuckyMichiganMississippiMontanaNew HampshireNew YorkOhioOregonTennesseeUtahWashingtonWisconsinNebraskaSouth CarolinaIdahoNevadaVermontLouisianaRhode IslandMassachusettsDistrict of ColumbiaMarylandVirginia

Economic and financial research is overwhelmingly concentrated in the Washington, DC metro (home to federal economic agencies, think tanks, and policy consultancies), with academic-driven clusters in Massachusetts and across the Maryland–Virginia corridor.

District of ColumbiaMassachusettsMarylandVirginia

NAICS 541720. U.S. Census Bureau, 2022 Statistics of U.S. Businesses (firms by state). Concentration shown by location quotient.

M&A deal context

Deal activityModerate

Who’s acquiring

  • Information-services consolidators
  • Financial-data platforms
  • PE-backed research roll-ups

What’s driving deals

  • Acquirers pursuing recurring subscription-research assets.
  • Consolidation across economic and financial data providers.
  • Steady demand from financial and corporate planning.

Find Investment Research Services acquisition targets

Search Acquisera’s index for companies classified under Investment Research Services (1.8.3.3) and build a targeted deal pipeline.

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