Institutional investors often leverage exclusive research for a competitive edge in finance.
A recent announcement by Santander Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) highlights this trend: On December 9, 2025, Santander CIB formed a strategic alliance with MoffettNathanson LLC.
This partnership aims to equip Santander’s institutional clients in the U.S. with “differentiated insights,” especially in the high-demand Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) sectors.
This enhances Santander's existing presence in Europe and Latin America. You can read the full press release here.
For U.S. self-directed retail investors, this news raises a key question. What are these “differentiated insights,” and how can an individual investor gain a similar edge without an institutional budget?
The solution isn't to mimic Wall Street’s resources. Instead, it involves understanding their methods and adapting them to build a more informed and critical investment strategy.
Key Takeaways
- Santander CIB has formed a fourth U.S. equity research alliance with MoffettNathanson LLC, enhancing its offerings for institutional clients in the TMT sector.
- “Differentiated insights” involve unique, actionable intelligence derived from proprietary data, advanced AI, and specialized sector expertise, going beyond standard financial reports and basic stock analysis.
- Institutional research helps navigate market uncertainty, identify emerging opportunities, and refine risk management for all investors.
- Retail investors can develop their own research edge by critically evaluating information, leveraging accessible platforms, and building a structured research framework.
- Robust research becomes crucial for disciplined investment decisions, especially during periods of economic caution, as indicated by consumer sentiment in late 2025.
What's Behind Santander's Latest Research Push?
Santander Corporate & Investment Banking's partnership with MoffettNathanson LLC strategically enhances its U.S. equity research.
This alliance focuses on the Technology, Media, and Telecom (TMT) sector, a field known for rapid innovation and complex market dynamics.
MoffettNathanson provides specialized, independent fundamental and sector analysis, which Santander will distribute globally.
This marks Santander's fourth U.S. collaboration, complementing existing agreements for healthcare, industrials, and retail sectors.
This partnership offers institutional clients deeper, actionable investment research insights into transformative TMT trends.
These trends include AI adoption, digital infrastructure, streaming, and telecom networks. Such insights help identify growth opportunities that generic market reports may miss.
In essence, these alliances boost idea generation, security selection, and portfolio construction for professional investors.
What Are These Elusive “Differentiated Insights”?
Differentiated insights move beyond basic financial data. They provide unique, actionable intelligence, helping investors discover opportunities others might overlook.
As Marvin Labs explains, this involves combining proprietary data sources with advanced AI tools.
These sources can include satellite imagery, social sentiment, or supply chain analytics, used to uncover hidden patterns.
Such insights often focus on intangible assets, like brand value or data ecosystems, which now form a significant part of the S&P 500's market value.
These insights differ from broad analyses. They use deep sector expertise and real-time alternative data to address specific questions, converting raw information into clear investment theses.
This helps analysts move beyond surface-level valuation metrics to understand a company’s competitive positioning, earnings quality, and long-term growth drivers more thoroughly.
For Santander's clients, this means tailored intelligence that reduces market noise, transforming complex variables into strategic portfolio advantages.
Why Does Institutional Research Matter for Everyone?
Institutional research primarily serves large funds and corporations. However, it indirectly benefits everyday investors by shaping market understanding and highlighting key trends.
This high-level equity and macro analysis converts complex market data into actionable intelligence, assisting investors in navigating uncertainty and avoiding costly errors.
For example, Natixis' 2025 Institutional Outlook showed a notable shift in sentiment.
64% of institutions expected a soft economic landing, a significant rise from 30% the previous year. Such changes, driven by extensive research and scenario analysis, illustrate how timely insights can correct widespread misunderstandings and influence market expectations.
Institutional reports also frequently identify emerging opportunities. One example is the rising demand for investment-grade private credit amid a rebound in M&A activity.
They may also offer practical risk management, like guidance on increasing European investment-grade credit within a diversified fixed income allocation.
By providing data-driven insights and clear investment theses, institutional research helps investors make disciplined decisions aligned with real-world conditions.
This is especially important during economic caution, such as in late 2025, when consumer confidence is low and spending patterns reflect increased financial prudence.
How Can Retail Investors Bridge the Insight Gap?
While retail investors may not have Santander's budget, the core principles of “differentiated insights” are still applicable.
The crucial step is to look beyond surface-level news and basic analyst reports. These often rehash widely known information and consensus estimates.
In an environment where consumers report feeling “financially stuck” and making “drastic cuts to optional spending,” a deeper understanding of market dynamics, corporate fundamentals, and sector trends becomes even more vital.
This understanding helps protect and potentially grow investments.
What Platforms Offer Deeper Research?
Individual investors can access substantial information. Financial news subscriptions, such as the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, or Bloomberg, provide in-depth articles and expert commentary.
Independent research firms offer focused reports on specific companies or sectors, though some may require payment. Many brokerage platforms also include access to their own analyst reports, stock screeners, and fundamental data like earnings, cash flows, and balance sheet metrics.
Furthermore, free resources can offer unique perspectives and alternative data. These include company investor relations pages, government economic data from sources like the BEA or Census Bureau, academic papers, and industry-specific publications.
The goal is to diversify sources and seek data points not immediately obvious or already priced into the market.
Beyond Headlines: How Do You Find Your Own Edge?
Finding an investment edge requires critical thinking and a willingness to investigate further. Rather than just reading headlines, analyze company filings such as 10-K and 10-Q, earnings call transcripts, and investor presentations.
Look for qualitative factors like management quality, competitive advantages, and industry trends. These factors may not be immediately quantifiable but can still influence future cash flows and valuation.
Consider alternative data sources. While not always free, some consumer sentiment reports or industry surveys can offer early signals about a company's performance or market shifts.
Even publicly accessible information, like app store rankings, web traffic trends, or customer reviews, can help validate or challenge an investment thesis. The objective is to connect different pieces of information to form a unique, well-supported investment thesis that others might have overlooked.
What's the Cost and How Do You Evaluate Research?
Some premium research involves a cost. However, many valuable resources are free or accessible through existing brokerage and investment platforms.
When evaluating any research, consider its quality and potential biases. Examine the source's track record, methodology, and any vested interests. Does the report offer a balanced view, or does it appear overly promotional? Does it rely on verifiable data and clearly stated assumptions?
A healthy skepticism and cross-referencing information from multiple sources are vital for developing reliable insights.
Treat every recommendation – whether a stock rating, price target, or macro forecast – as one input in your broader due diligence process, not as a standalone answer.
Building Your Own Framework: What's the Future for Retail Research?
Developing a personal research framework involves a systematic approach to identifying, analyzing, and synthesizing information.
Begin by defining your investment goals and criteria. These include time horizon, risk tolerance, asset allocation, and preferred investment style, such as value, growth, or dividend.
Next, identify reliable sources and create a process for regularly reviewing them, including earnings reports, macro data, and sector updates.
Organize your findings and critically assess new information against your current understanding. Keeping written notes or checklists helps maintain a disciplined and repeatable process.
As technology advances, retail investors will likely gain greater access to sophisticated data analytics, AI-powered tools, personal finance apps, and screening software. This democratizes certain aspects of “differentiated insights.”
The trend suggests a more empowered retail investor, able to make highly informed decisions by adopting the disciplined, data-driven mindset typically associated with institutional players.
The Bottom Line
Santander's alliance with MoffettNathanson highlights the importance of specialized, “differentiated insights” for institutional investors in complex markets.
For self-directed retail investors, this development can serve as an example. By leveraging accessible resources, adopting a critical mindset, and developing a structured research framework, individuals can look beyond general market information.
This approach may reveal unique insights and perspectives, potentially enhancing portfolio decisions during uncertain economic periods.
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