In our upcoming Independent Analyst Panel, the IIAR> brings together five leading independent analysts and six AR co-hosts to discuss the value they bring to organizations. Read more on our blog post and register to attend the Panel CLICK HERE.
Date> Thursday 13 March 2025
Time> 0800 PST / 1100 EST / 1600 GMT / 2130 IST
Today’s IIAR> Around in 10 questions interview is with Virginie O’shea / Founder Firebrand Research, (LinkedIn) who covers capital markets technology and operations.
1. What are your coverage areas?
We focus on capital markets technology and operations, benchmarking how the industry is dealing with regulatory change and changing market dynamics.
2. What are your opinions of the IT Analysis Marketplace and where do you see it going?
I see a lot of high-level content on cross-sectoral IT developments in the market but very little that is specific enough for technology and operations teams in the various verticals of capital markets, so that’s where we come in! There are a lot of mega-sized firms in the market but there is still a lot of room for niche players such as Firebrand to operate.
3. What’s your typical day like?
That very much depends on the projects we’re working on at the time – I spend a lot of my time conducting primary research, so I’m on Zoom, Teams etc for a large part of the day. I also monitor and digest anything that goes on within the global regulatory arena to flag the operational impacts for clients, which is sometimes a full-time job in itself! Dealing with client queries and requests is also helpful in determining new areas of research, so it all feeds into other areas.
4. Now, c’mon, tell me an AR horror story?
One of the biggest challenges with being a boutique firm is that we’re very specifically focused on one financial services sector, so AR professionals without a grounding in that space can struggle to pitch the right clients to us. As a small firm, we also have limited time, so any irrelevant meetings impact us more than the behemoths out there!
5. How do you position your firm? What is your business model?
We work with a broad spectrum of clients including market infrastructures, large and small financial services firms, consultants, industry associations and vendors. We position ourselves as a truly independent voice with depth of knowledge and insights in capital markets – we speak to operations and technology teams at all types and sizes of firm, so we have a great handle on where pain points and budgets lie!
6. What is your research methodology, in 255 characters or less?
We are a primary research house, so the majority is phone and face to face interactions, obviously supplemented with industry statistics where necessary.
7. Any favourite AR professional you’d like to mention? Any why?
There are a bunch of great AR people in the capital markets arena that really understand the business in-depth and have been operating in the space for years. It’s the combination of industry knowledge with understanding how an analyst works that makes a great AR person.
8. Tell us about one good AR practice you’ve experienced or one good AR event you’ve atttended.
I rarely go to AR events, I must admit, largely because my time is taken up going to industry-specific events. I’d love to get out to them more! In terms of practices, I’d say the most useful is fast responses to queries and delivering RFIs back on time. Simple!
9. What are your offerings and key deliverables?
We provide subscription research via our digital offering and regular briefings to clients as and when industry events and regulatory developments happen. We also engage in bespoke research for clients and strategy sessions for a range of end goals such as product development, market entry and due diligence for acquisitions..
10. Any hobbies or favourite restaurant / food that you’d like to share?
I guess I’m best known in the industry for my memes, particularly the series of Mr. Men and Little Misses that started as a tool for training interns and developed into a LinkedIn series. I really think research should be fun and interactive – we all have such serious day jobs that a bit of levity around serious topics can brighten someone’s day!
Other IIAR> Around analysts in 10 Questions
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