2. Introduction
◦Explain importance of conducting company research
◦Introduce three major types of company research
◦ Publicly-traded companies
◦ Privately-held companies
◦ Nonprofits
◦Resources and strategies used for researching different
company types
3. Why Research Companies?
◦Due Diligence – ensuring clients make informed decisions
◦ Clients are informed about industry, market forces, and competitors
before launching or investing in business enterprise
◦ Knowledge of other company when entering business arrangement
◦ Financial solvency, ability to perform, track-record, lawsuits, and other
relevant issues
◦ Making prudent charitable contributions
4. Company types
◦ Publicly-Traded
◦ Listed on an exchange
◦ Mandatory disclosure requirements
◦ Easiest to research
◦ Privately-Held
◦ Closely-held company—less information available
◦ Requires greater research
◦ Information may be difficult to locate
◦ Nonprofits
◦ Similar to privately-held in terms of disclosure requirements
◦ However, nonprofits tend to voluntarily disclose more information
5. Publicly-Traded Companies
◦ Publicly-traded companies, those who sell stock on the open markets, are required to register and to
make regular, mandatory disclosures to regulators and their investors
◦ Relatively easy to research public-traded companies
◦ Information Sources
◦ SEC filings—EDGAR
◦ 10-K Annual Filing
◦ 10-Q Quarterly Filing
◦ 8-K Material Event – filed whenever something important occurs
◦ Company websites
◦ Investor Relations Filings and News
◦ Mainstream, Business, and Industry News Sources
◦ Other Public Records and Regulatory Disclosures
◦ Commercial Vendors
6. Privately-Held Companies
◦ Locating information on privately-held companies most challenging—requires most research
◦ General Rule: Privately-held companies not publicly traded so not subject to SEC disclosure requirements
◦ Caveat: Just because companies not required to disclose information to SEC, does not mean no information available
◦ Sources of Information
◦ Business Entity Filings
◦ Corporations, LLCs, LPs
◦ Company performs business in regulated industry
◦ Banking
◦ Insurance
◦ Energy
◦ Exotic variants
◦ Privately-held, but share may be purchased by employees
◦ Publix Supermarkets
◦ Customer-owned
◦ State Farm
7. Nonprofits
◦ A variety of Nonprofits tend to make voluntary disclosures which are available on their websites
◦ Susan G. Komen
◦ National Multiple Sclerosis Society
◦ Archdiocese of Boston
◦ Qualified, tax-exempt 501(c) charities required to file Form 990 with IRS
◦ Nonprofit Research Websites
◦ Guidestar
◦ Most content free with registration
◦ Some content pay
◦ Foundation Directory
◦ Subscription website available to law students in Anderson Academic Commons (DU’s new main library)
8. Subscription Resources
◦ Many subscription services provide company research information, here are a few examples that DU law students
can access
◦ Bloomberg Law
◦ Company information, key people, financials, lawsuits, and other pertinent material
◦ SEC Filings (EDGAR)
◦ Court Dockets
◦ Court filings can help identify related companies, key personnel (if not publicly-traded), and other useful information
◦ Dun & Bradstreet – Hoover’s Online
◦ D&B major resource for researching companies
◦ Hoover’s Online provides information on Publicly-Traded and Privately-Held companies (with limitations)
◦ Identify business competitors
◦ Research industry dynamics
◦ Thomson One
◦ Company & Industry research
◦ Identify business entity relations
9. Trade and Professional Associations
◦ Chances are, whatever business you encounter, there’s a professional or trade association for it
◦ Research and Industry-oriented publications
◦ Some free, some subscription access
◦ Locating Associations
◦ Encyclopedia of Associations – Book
◦ National Trade and Professional Associations of the United States – Book
◦ American Society of Association Executives
◦ Internet Public Library (ipl2) – Associations on the New
◦ Hoover’s Online
◦ Browse Membership Organizations
◦ Business & Professional Associations
10. Chambers of Commerce and Unions
◦ Chambers of Commerce
◦ U.S. Chamber of Commerce
◦ Unions
◦ Department of Labor – Employment Security Agency
◦ Union information, financial filings, reports
◦ Hoover’s Online
◦ Browse Membership Organizations
◦ Labor Unions
11. Research Centers
◦ Nonprofit organization such as ―think tanks‖ and university research centers
◦ Brookings Institution
◦ Competition, globalization, productivity, regulation, mergers, retirement, and others
◦ American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research (AEI)
◦ Economics, trade, taxation and fiscal policy, regulation, and spending issues
◦ National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)
◦ Subscription through Penrose
◦ National Academies Press
◦ Manufacturing, international labor standards, measuring research and development expenditures in the
US, measuring international trade on the US highways
12. Government Agencies
◦ In addition to SEC filings, companies may be required to submit a variety of information to the Federal and
State governments
◦ Some information is available online while print copies might need to be retrieved in other circumstances
◦ If company operates in a heavily regulated industry, public or private, the company will be required to make
certain disclosures
◦ Examples:
◦ Banks – FDIC
◦ Banks – St. Louis Federal Reserve CASSIDI
◦ Credit Unions – NCUA
◦ Not all credit unions are listed under the name by which they do business, best to Google the institution’s Charter Number
◦ Government Contracts Disclosures
◦ Insurance (States)
13. Conclusion
◦ Numerous free and pay resources exist for conducting company
research
◦ Public companies easiest to research
◦ Nonprofits may voluntarily disclose information
◦ Privately-held companies require greatest effort
◦ Regulatory filings
◦ News stories
◦ Associations
◦ For-pay research reports
