About Sifter Research

Equity research where the
opportunities can be found.

The gap we occupy

The world's best businesses are not always in the S&P 500. Many of the most durable compounders (strong moats, disciplined capital allocators, decades of reinvestment runway) are listed on exchanges that institutional capital structurally cannot access at scale.

Position sizes are too small. Markets are too illiquid. A fund managing billions cannot move the needle by investing in a €50m company. When large pools of capital cannot participate, nobody produces research. When nobody produces research, the market cannot price the business correctly.

Sifter Research publishes free, complete equity research on these companies. Every report is built from primary sources, across languages and jurisdictions. Three explicit valuation scenarios. The author's name on every judgment call. Nothing anonymous. Nothing hedged into uselessness.

The Framework

82 questions.
Eleven sections.
One filter.

Every company passes the same framework before any valuation begins. The checklist draws on the principles of Graham, Buffett, Munger, Pabrai and Li Lu. Refined over a decade of studying what separates long-term compounders from value traps.

I. Circle of Competence & Business Understanding 6 questions
II. Moat & Competitive Advantage 7 questions
III. Industry Structure & Competitive Risks 8 questions
IV. Earnings Quality & Cash Flow 10 questions
V. Balance Sheet Strength & Financial Risk 7 questions
VI. Capital Allocation & Return on Capital 7 questions
VII. Management & Governance 9 questions
VIII. Specific Risks & Tail Risk 7 questions
IX. Valuation & Margin of Safety 7 questions
X. Final Decision 8 questions
XI. Post-Investment Review 6 questions
"Don't ask 'why should I buy?' Ask 'what could destroy this?'"
Founder
Alessandro Montalbano
Signed by

Alessandro Montalbano

Founder · Research Analyst, Sifter Research
A decade of personal investing · Former M&A analyst · Quantitative Finance & Management Engineering

Over the years, I've spent a lot of time on investment platforms, forums, newsletters and communities. Great ideas everywhere: tickers, theses, one-liners that make you think. But I always had the same problem: when I find something interesting, I still have to do all the research myself. Every time.

I looked for research that was actually complete, a real deep-dive where you can follow the reasoning, check the numbers and disagree with the conclusion if you want. Rarely found it. Especially on small-caps, where institutional coverage is thin and mispricing opportunities are real. So I built it myself.

See our published research →
"The goal is to understand a few neglected businesses better than the market does."