Many firms claim to offer some kind of independent research these days, but if you scratch the surface of any research business model, you will find pressures that affect the coverage lists, the recommendations and all the underlying assumptions.
There are very few firms that can honestly claim to offer fully independent research into Asian companies, where the research is paid for directly by the clients. One of these is Riedel Research, owned by Salomon Smith Barney's ex-head of Thai research, David Riedel.
The firm offers regular and bespoke equity research to a limited number of clients eleven at present rising to thirty by the end of...