A comparative analysis of information search and evaluation behavior of professional and non-professional financial analysts

Abstract This study assesses the information search and evaluation behavior of professional and non-professional financial analysts. These groups were analyzed because they are demonstrably interested in financial analysis. The study compares problem-solving behavior during the analysis of an initial public offering of an equity security, using a process tracing technique. General results of the study suggest that professionals tend to treat data in different ways to non-professionals. Principal differences include strategy selection, weights attached to data and final conclusions. However, professionals also seem to use different data than that generally proposed in fundamental analysis texts.

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