Great thought leadership!

So 70% of respondents say they are significantly or somewhat significantly influenced by earnings estimates.

Despite all the talk about long-termism and fact that ESG friendly investors now account for more than 50% of the institutional investment market, these figures speak for themselves. And let's remember these are self-assessments with all the bias that comes with this.

And yet, ask a buy side analyst or fund management firm if they pay a lot of attention to sell side research and the answer is always a clear and unequivocal "no"!

What's the way forward?

One answer - as with drugs - is to find less damaging substitutes. You highlight some alternatives to traditional sell side research, which would give investment users a cleaner, safer and cheaper hit.

Certainly, substitution of methadone for heroin can be a step forward if it's part of a controlled therapeutic programme. But the real answer is to kick the habit, which means find people who want to do the same thing.

The investment industry needs it own 12 step process! But do the voluntary reform initiatives really serve this purpose? Until we get this, we seem well on track for more and more preventable surprises.