How A Ratings System Could Make It Easier To Compare Stocks, Invest In Winners

Benzinga, a leading news and data provider, will be holding its annual Benzinga Global Fintech Awards, a day of dealmaking, networking, and recognition in the financial technology space, on November 11, 2021.

The event will award Benzinga Listmakers, those top companies part of Benzinga’s Global Fintech Index, for their accomplishments innovating, as well as merging the best of finance and technology.

In recognition of those disruptive innovators creating positive and diverse change within the financial services space, Benzinga spoke with Chris Cook, founder at Cook Investment Research.

About: Alongside the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic lockdowns, interest in financial markets rose exponentially as market participants sought engagement with the outside world. Despite the world working its way back to normal, financial markets engagement remains at record highs.

In addressing the new wave of investing -- those market participants, at all levels, hungry to learn more and trade actively -- Cook leveraged his experience in fixed income to develop a stock research platform, Cook Investment Research.

The launch of a holistic market insights platform made Cook’s passion a career.

“I started this with fundamental analysis at the forefront," he said, "and then I worked it down to retail investors -- specifically newer retail investors -- who could utilize an easy rating system.”

In the simplest way: Cook takes short- and long-term fundamental data, and packages it in easy to digest, actionable insights.

Core Product: Cook reduces investment opportunities by use of a ratings system.

“Our differentiator is the rating system,” he said. “We have rating systems for pretty much everything in life, you know. When you go to school, it is 0 to 100, pass or fail. We should look at companies the same way.”

By using a 0-to-100 rating system, Cook believes it is much easier to compare companies, across all industries and investing styles -- value and growth.

Additionally, the platform offers investors a long-term price target-derived using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method, as well as an in-depth, written analysis that unpacks the major themes and events that have driven and may drive a security in the future.

“Our main focus is to bring all the fundamental research into one place, and to make it easy and quick,” he said.

Innovation Outlook: In light of one of the biggest generational shifts, one in which participants look to base their investment decisions on embedded networks, like social media, Cook is looking to grow the depth and breadth of his content offer.

“We’re going to build our user base and maybe hire a team of analysts,” he said in reference to delivering on the demand for visual, influencer-friendly content. “I’ve been looking into getting partnerships -- you know, influencers and especially on YouTube -- because it would be a perfect compliment.”

“We offer articles that are going on a specific website. But, if we could add some visuals to that, we could get access to influencers in the video space.”

To learn more about Cook Investment Research, click here.