Edison Group, an international research and investor relations consultancy, has appointed Andy Murphy as Director of Industrials and Financials; James Magness as Director of Energy and Renewables; and Luke Crowson and Lin Li as business development managers at the firm.
The new hires follow a period of sustained growth in Q1 2021. Murphy joins Edison having previously worked at Panmure Gordon covering the Housebuilders, Real Estate and Asset Rental sectors, transferring following the takeover of Whitman Howard where he was Head of Research. He has covered numerous sectors at a range of stockbrokers including Merrill Lynch, N+1 Singer and Dresdner Kleinwort. With Murphy’s wealth of experience, he will help the Edison team expand its presence in the housebuilding and real estate sectors.
Magness brings two decades’ worth of experience with him in finance and investments, with more than 10 years in the equity markets, in research and equity sales, both buy-side and sell-side, including senior equity analyst at a hedge fund in charge of long-short energy-related stock ideas. He has covered stocks spanning O&G, utilities, chemicals, and cleantech (wind, solar, electric vehicles, energy storage and energy efficiency). He has also worked with NGOs focusing on the energy transition. As an energy and cleantech specialist, Magness will drive new opportunities to Edison’s growing Energy and Renewables business.
Crowson recently joined the Commercial team at Edison and covers the consumer, healthcare and financials. Prior to joining the firm, Crowson worked at Octopus Investments rolling out new investment products to the financial adviser and wealth management communities across the UK. Before that, he worked with multiple fintech start-ups and began his career at Rothschild & Co. Crowson holds a BSc Economics from Birmingham University and is studying for his IMC.
Li recently joined Edison and covers TMT and Industrial companies globally. Prior to joining Edison, Li was at BlackRock for three years distributing actively managed strategies, risk management and bespoke portfolio solutions to non-institutional clients in the UK. Li holds a BA from Durham University.
These appointments follow a sustained period of demand for Edison’s research insights, global distribution reach and market-leading digital investor relations, driving the company’s growth in Q1 2021. As a recent mark of success for the firm, 10 analysts across key sectors were named in the 2020 Research Tree Analyst Rankings.
In 2021 Edison surpassed the milestone of having over 400 corporate clients – as well as having led over 250 investor roadshows and more than 3,000 meetings. Over the same period, Edison has had an increase of almost 55 per cent of reads as well as a 24 per cent increase in unique readers. The increase in demand has prompted further regional expansion.
Edison last year opened an office in Amsterdam to provide enhanced Benelux and Continental European coverage. Edison has also partnered with leading research firm ALG in South Africa to help improve South African corporates’ access to international capital markets. These moves have added to London-headquartered Edison’s international network, which already includes offices in the US (New York), Israel (Tel Aviv) and Germany (Frankfurt).
Neil Shah, Director of Research at Edison Group, says: “We are delighted to have brought such great talent to the team. The outstanding, award-winning experience and expertise they bring to Edison will not only support our growth aspirations but will ensure we continue to provide the levels of support and high-quality research we are renowned for and that our clients expect.
“This is an exciting time to join Edison. We are continually enhancing our services and are well positioned to take advantage of renewed optimism in economies and financial markets as a result of our depth of expertise and quality of resources. I am very much looking forward to working with Andy, James, Luke and Lin as we seek to further accelerate our growth.”
