Retail analytics are increasingly important in the competitive world of consumer facing products. What does this form of research and data assessment entail? Sam Yip, CEO and founder of Hedder, a digital publisher of institutional-quality research for retail investors and industry stakeholders, explains how data can be analysed and expertly assessed.
In an interview with Digital Journal, Yip discusses the origin story of Hedder, his background on why he started Hedder and how he believes it will change the game for retail investors and industry stakeholders.
Digital Journal: To begin, can you tell me a little bit about your background as an entrepreneur and what inspired you to start Hedder?
Sam Yip: I started my career as a capital markets lawyer, and later co-founded an AI translation company focusing on the translation of financial documents, including research reports. During my work, I observed that there is a lack of sophisticated research that is available to retail investors, even though this segment has become increasingly knowledgeable.
In 2021, retail investing accounted for 52 percent of assets under management and has been growing ever since. With the majority of market participants being retail investors, they should have the same access to the research and analysis as institutional investors. There was an opportunity within the industry to create centralized access to expert analysis – and that’s what Hedder is.
We are revolutionizing how personal investors and industry stakeholders increase their financial and industry knowledge by providing access to expert analysis on niche topics shaping the market.
DJ: What is your mission for the company?
Yip: We want to improve readers’ financial acumen and potential long-term investing returns by offering access to expert insights. Our mission is to tear down the wall that has prevented the vast majority of investors from accessing research to help make more informed investment decisions.
We are the first publisher that is democratizing financial knowledge and leveling the playing field for all market participants. Retail investors and industry stakeholders deserve to have the same access as institutional investors, so our authors are bringing them monthly and weekly content that analyzes specific topics within areas of the market such as, global macroeconomics, agricultural commodities, foreign exchange, healthcare and pharmaceutical investing, among others.
DJ: What resources have been historically available for retail investors and how is Hedder changing the game?
Yip: Before Hedder, materials available for retail investors were indistinct for readers at all different levels and occupation, and there is a lack of quality control in terms of what a retail investor can find through content aggregators that are already available.
We’re the only place where any individual – whether retail investor or industry stakeholder – can go to access institutional-grade research analysis, from authors with Wall Street, central bank and Fortune 500 background.
We’re changing the game by educating retail investors to make smarter investment decisions, adjust their portfolios, stay up-to-date on relevant trends and issues that are impacting the market.
Hedder is affordable and disrupting how retail investors access sophisticated investment resources by expanding access to industry executives with deep domain expertise.
DJ: Is Hedder another example of the emerging creator or passion economy?
Yip: You can say that with Hedder, the creator economy has found its niche in the investing world. Our authors are distinguished in their disciplines and each have significant authority on various areas of the markets and the economy. They are able to share their perspective with a wider audience and influence decision making.
It’s an interesting marriage between the investing world and creators – nothing like this has been done before. We are bringing expert advice to more people and meeting demand in the market for this.
You can think of Hedder as an independent publisher in a traditional sense – only that we don’t publish one-off books and instead we publish on-going series for a niche.
DJ: Can you explain more about the different institutional-quality series and how you found the perfect author for each?
Yip: Currently we have seven relevant content series that are available specializing in healthcare, emerging markets, currency trading, global macro investing, agricultural commodities, European economies, and quantitative strategies.
Each month Hedder’s industry expert authors will be releasing more insights into each series based on what is happening in the news cycle
DJ: What is on the horizon for Hedder?
Yip: We are continuing to build out our content pipeline for the authors and build awareness around their expertise to attract readers for each topic.
