Despite this, over 60% of respondents have begun the process of setting out their research budgets, with only 36% of participating asset managers unsure of how they will pay for the research, down from 50% in Q4 2016.
For some firms, the challenges in setting a budget are the result of a lack of pricing information.
The onus is on the research provider to set prices but Rsrchxchange’s survey showed that 23% of respondents had not received any pricing information from their providers whatsoever.
The survey findings also underscored that firms were prepared to cut the number of overall providers they took research from.
Around 80% of respondents said they would be collecting research from five out of nine of the bulge bracket banks.
This move that could prove problematic for active managers, “as cutting the breadth and depth of views is likely to have an impact on alpha generation,” said Rsrchxchange.
