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Issuer-sponsored research: a guide for listed companies

Research a company pays a third party to write, so that investors have something to read about it. What it is, why fund managers can read it without paying for it, what the recent rule changes mean, and how to make sure it is read.

Checked against the sources at the foot of this page on 17 October 2026.

What it is

Issuer-sponsored research is written by a research provider and paid for by the company it covers. HM Treasury’s Investment Research Review found that the companies using it tend to be smaller or specialist companies, less likely to be covered by sell-side or independent research providers, and that it can be an effective way of raising awareness of companies with little or no analyst coverage.

It sits beside two other kinds of research. A house broker’s analysts write about the company as part of the broker’s relationship with it. Independent research is paid for by the investors who read it. Sponsored research is the kind a company commissions directly, and the kind where the payment has to be disclosed.

Why fund managers can read it without paying

The FCA’s inducement rules stop a firm managing portfolios from accepting benefits from third parties, and free research is a benefit. The exceptions include research the firm pays for in one of the ways the rules allow, and a short list of acceptable minor non-monetary benefits. Issuer-sponsored research is on that list (COBS 2.3A.19R(5)(b)), on two conditions:

  • the relationship with the company is clearly disclosed in the research, and
  • the research is made available at the same time to any firm that wants it, or to the general public.

Separately, written material that is openly available to any firm or to the public is also on the list, and the rule says a log-in or sign-up does not stop it counting as openly available (COBS 2.3A.19R(5)(j)).

The conditions concern how the provider discloses and distributes the research, not the company. They are still worth asking about: research that is not disclosed properly, or reaches some investors before others, may be research a fund manager cannot accept.

What changed in 2024 and 2025

  • From 1 August 2024, UK investment firms may pay for research and execution together in a joint payment, as well as from their own resources or a research payment account (FCA PS24/9).
  • From 9 May 2025, the same option is open to fund managers: UCITS management companies and alternative investment fund managers (FCA PS25/4).
  • The FCA deleted an earlier option for research on companies below £200m market capitalisation, introduced in 2021, because it had little take-up and joint payments now cover research on companies of any size (PS24/9).

More ways to pay for research may mean more research overall. The Investment Research Review, to which these rules respond, was careful on this point: bundled payments are no guarantee of more research on any particular company. For a company with a house broker and little other coverage, sponsored research remains the route it controls.

The credibility question

Because the company pays, sponsored research is sometimes seen as less objective, and the review acknowledged a perception of inherent conflicts of interest. It recommended a voluntary, industry-led code of conduct, and two trade associations told the FCA they would support one (PS24/9). At the time of writing no such code is in place in the UK. In the EU, the European Securities and Markets Authority published draft standards for an EU code of conduct for issuer-sponsored research in October 2025.

Until a UK code exists, the practical answer is disclosure: research that says plainly who paid for it, from a provider that is open about how it works.

Questions to ask a research provider

  • Is it authorised by the FCA? The Financial Services Register will say.
  • How is the paid relationship disclosed on each note?
  • Who can read the research, and does everyone receive it at the same time?
  • How often is it updated, for example after results?
  • Where is it distributed, and will you see who reads it?

The French code of conduct described in the Investment Research Review also asks companies to tell the market when new coverage starts, and to refer to their sponsored research on their own website. That is French practice, not a UK rule, but both are sensible habits.

Getting it read

Research raises awareness only if it is read. Three places matter.

  • Where investors already look for research. Research Tree has 150+ providers disseminating through it and 85,000 investors signed up.
  • Your own investor page, which is where an investor looking at your company is likely to go. A research feed shows every note written about you, sponsored or not, and updates itself as new notes are published. Our guide to analyst research on your investor page sets out the other options.
  • An announcement when coverage starts, so the market knows the research exists.

Then there is knowing who read it. A provider may tell you how often its note was opened; with a research feed, a report each month covers institutional, high-net-worth and retail consumption of your content across the platform.

Sources

Put every note written about you on your own investor page

Sponsored or not, a research feed shows each note as it is published, with each provider's access settings intact.

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