Thursday, April 9th, 2009
(excerpt from BEVERAGE DIGEST)
Top-Ranked Beverage Analyst Bill Pecoriello—Having Left Morgan Stanley—Starts New Firm. Interview.
Bill Pecoriello—ranked #1 among beverage analysts in recent years by Institutional Investor magazine—left Morgan Stanley some months ago and is now starting a new research firm: “Consumer Edge Research.” Pecoriello tells BD he wants the new firm to be “the preeminent independent research provider to the investment community, focused on the global consumer sector.” The new company is based in Stamford, CT, and Pecoriello says he plans a European office later this year. He says the firm will initially cover the U.S. beverage, food and household product industries. In time, he says, it will expand both to global coverage and “other consumer related sectors.” Company formally begins operations week of April 13; website: consumeredgeresearch.com
Interview. What is the new firm all about?
Pecoriello: “Our research will combine our uniquely thorough primary research along with rigorous valuation analysis. We will be data intensive, and our primary research will include survey work, channel checks and will tap our employees’ decades of knowledge and industry contacts. Our product will include detailed written reports and models, interaction with our analysts, and events hosted with management teams and industry experts. By focusing on fewer constituents and a targeted client universe, we will offer high service levels and be extremely responsive to our clients.”
Will you be the only analyst? Or have you hired other professionals?
“We have eight professionals with over 80 years of industry experience from consulting firms, investment firms and sell-side brokers. I will be the lead analyst in the beverage and household/ personal care sectors. Eric Serotta, formerly of Merrill Lynch, will be the lead food sector analyst. We have four other research professionals supporting us. Our COO/director of sales, John Argenti, spent the last 15 years in institutional sales at Morgan Stanley and Lehman Brothers, the last five as a managing director of Morgan Stanley’s U.S. sales force.”
What made you decide to leave Morgan Stanley? Did the current problems on Wall Street have anything to do with your decision?
“I’ve always wanted to run my own company, and have watched the strong success of other sector-focused boutiques from top-ranked analysts offering high-quality, differentiated value-added research. Nobody had tried this boutique model in the consumer packaged goods space, and there are first mover advantages. The changes taking place on Wall Street have allowed such boutiques to fill the void being left as Wall Street tries to find a new model.”
Given the state of the economy, isn’t this a tough time to start a new business?
“While there are challenges starting a new business in this economic environment, past crises have been a time when entrepreneurs can take advantage by developing new business models that can thrive from the dislocation in the marketplace.”
Advantages your firm brings clients vs traditional investment firms and research?
“Higher service levels by serving a smaller targeted client universe, heavy investment in R&D at a time when traditional brokerage firms are cutting back resources, higher value-add by not giving away our research for ‘free’ to thousands of readers—our reports will be encrypted and not available on third party platforms—and developing primary sources of data on the CPG industry that will only be available from us.”
