Sources of Data

What this video covers

• Why the data-collection topic tests WHERE bankers pull data from, not HOW they use it in a discounted cash flow (DCF) model, and why Bloomberg-as-database is testable while Excel formulas are not
• The five source categories in order: commercial market databases (Bloomberg, FactSet, Capital IQ, Refinitiv), proprietary internal repositories, regulatory sources (EDGAR and EMMA), company internet sites and investor relations pages, and financial media including equity research
• Why EDGAR (Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval) and EMMA (Electronic Municipal Market Access) are public regulatory backbones, while proprietary databases hold the firm's private deal history and league-table scoreboard
• The four data categories: financial data (balance sheet, income statement, cash flow), performance data (key performance indicators, or KPIs, like same-store sales and churn), issuance data (securities offerings), and transaction data (M&A deals)
• The gold-standard requirement of exactly three years of historical financials pulled for comparable-company spreads and DCF inputs
• Why issuance data (raising capital: IPOs, follow-ons, bond offerings) and transaction data (buying or selling entire companies: M&A, control premiums, multiples paid) are never interchangeable on the exam
• How to match a specific pitch scenario to the correct source and data type, including when a sell-side mandate demands precedent transactions (transaction data) rather than issuance comps