How 50+ advisory and research firms are handling the AI shift
The Q3 Singletrack Capital Markets Benchmark Report continues to reveal that the AI transition is no longer just a concept. It is actively transforming how the sell-side operates and how the buy-side consumes advisory services.
Our Quarterly Benchmark Report uses data aggregated from across 59 full-service investment banks and independent research providers, delivering leading insights across research production and engagement, sales interactions, and corporate access activity.
 Key Insights from Q3 2026:
- Research productivity is surging: AI-driven tools have pushed research creation times down to a two-year low of just 7.1 hours per report, enabling analysts to expand company coverage by over 12%.
- The buy-side distribution is shifting: This increased output isn't translating into inbox readership. Traditional bulk email engagement has dropped to 5.2% as consumption pivots heavily toward client portals, research aggregators, and direct API feeds.
- A new hybrid sales model: Asynchronous communication (email and IM) now makes up 46.26% of logged sales interactions, outpacing traditional phone calls as firms focus on deepening existing relationships rather than purely prospecting. This indicates a new normal where sales teams blend methods based on preference, urgency, and opportunity stage.
- The resurgence of scaled events: Corporate access meeting volumes jumped 17.6% year-on-year, driven by a 47.1% surge in higher-capacity conference meetings, revealing a tension between scale and scarcity.
About Singletrack
At Singletrack, we provide capital markets advisory and research firms with the only end-to-end CRM and research management platform to stay ahead of these distribution and monetisation challenges. If you are evaluating how your firm’s research output, sales activity, or corporate access engagement compares to industry peers, we can help your firm capture and monetise client intent.
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