When he first learned about AlphaSense at NIRI’s 2016 conference, Dennis Walsh, head of investor relations at Pacaso, says the ‘research capabilities for analyst notes and SEC filings were like nothing I had seen before’.
At the time Walsh was at Zillow and says ‘competitive intelligence was part of the IR function’. He describes AlphaSense as ‘supercharging’ the company’s competitive intelligence efforts, adding that it allowed the team to discover information about Zillow’s peers and industry that they likely wouldn’t have come across otherwise.
Zillow’s use of AlphaSense soon evolved, Walsh says, and the firm found it ‘incredibly useful’ in its messaging. ‘When we had a new event to disclose via a news release, an SEC filing or an earnings conference call, we leveraged AlphaSense to see how other companies had handled and messaged a similar situation,’ he explains. ‘Over time, our legal and SEC reporting teams recognized the power of AlphaSense, so they too became users.’
Walsh has held two roles since Zillow and joined his current firm in November 2021. But where he goes, so too does his AlphaSense account.
‘We set up various keyword searches that uncover research, articles, filings, transcripts and so forth that power our competitive intelligence initiatives,’ he says. From that, the IR team compiles a weekly report on its findings related to peer news and developments that Walsh says benefits ‘several functions and can be used to inform business decisions’.
So is there a trick to making AlphaSense a success? Walsh says it’s all about figuring out the right combination of search terms. Once you’ve got that, the platform really does the work for you, he says.
‘Each day you will have a wealth of valuable documents to review,’ he adds. ‘And by sharing some of your findings with other functions, you can truly elevate the investor relations function within your organization.’
This is an extract of an article that was published in the Winter 2021 issue of IR Magazine. Click here to read the full article.
