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Student equity & PE research

Student-led research on public equities and private capital.

Daily Finance Fund trains a small cohort of student analysts to write original equity and private-equity research, published under editorial review. The discipline of professional research, carried out before college.

Start your application How it works

About

What we do

We publish original equity write-ups and private-equity deal analysis, produced and edited in the style of a sell-side or buy-side research note: a thesis, a model, and a case for or against. Every report is written by a student analyst and passes through editorial review before it carries the Daily Finance Fund name.

Process

How it works

  1. Apply

    A short written application. We’re looking for curiosity and work ethic, not a finance background. Most analysts join with none.

  2. Get selected

    Admission is selective by design. A smaller cohort means closer mentorship and a credential that means something when an analyst lists it.

  3. Train

    Before writing anything for publication, analysts learn real research methodology: valuation, industry analysis, and how to read a 10-K or a deal memo.

  4. Publish

    Finished reports go through editorial review and are published under the Daily Finance Fund name, building a track record each analyst can point to.

Publications

Research

Working Paper Series · No. 1

Value Creation in Private Equity After the Rate Reset

Since 2022, higher financing costs have squeezed the leverage-driven returns that defined the prior decade of buyouts. This paper traces that shift: how sponsors are increasingly underwriting deals on margin expansion, revenue growth, and operational improvement rather than multiple expansion and cheap debt, and what that implies for how deals get sourced, held, and exited going forward.

Sector
Private Equity
Status
Published
Analysts
6

Working Paper Series

Papers in progress. Each is written by our analysts and released after editorial review.

  1. No. 6

    The One-Company Fund: Search Fund Economics and Small-Business Succession

    Search funds back a single young operator to find, buy, and run one small company. This paper models the deal from both the searcher’s and the investors’ side, and asks what happens to prices as more retiring owners look for buyers.

    Small Business In progress
  2. No. 7

    Private Equity on the Sidelines: The Business of Youth Sports

    Travel teams, tournament circuits, training facilities, and cheer have become a consolidated industry with institutional owners. We map where the cash comes from, how much pricing power sits with families, and what caps the growth story.

    Consumer In progress
  3. No. 8

    Float and Forget: Gift Card Breakage as a Hidden Source of Funding

    Gift cards and stored-value apps hand retailers and restaurant chains customer cash in advance, and some of it is never spent. This paper reads the disclosures behind those balances and estimates how much they matter to working capital and reported earnings.

    Consumer In progress
  4. No. 9

    Hidden Landlords: The Real Estate Inside Restaurant and Retail Stocks

    Some chains own the land under their stores, carried on the balance sheet at decades-old cost. We build sum-of-the-parts valuations that separate the operating business from the property and ask when the market actually prices that real estate.

    Real Estate In progress
  5. No. 10

    The Elevator Annuity: Installed-Base Service Revenue in Industrial Stocks

    Elevator makers earn much of their profit maintaining equipment that is already installed rather than selling new units. This paper studies how that maintenance revenue holds up through downturns and whether it earns a valuation closer to software than to machinery.

    Industrials In progress
  6. No. 11

    Pre-Need: Funeral Contracts, Trust Funds, and the Economics of Deathcare

    Funeral providers often sell services years before delivering them and hold the proceeds in trust. We examine how those trust assets, contract backlogs, and an aging population feed into valuation, and why the accounting makes the sector hard to read.

    Consumer Services In progress
  7. No. 12

    Owning the Song: How Markets Value Music Catalogs and Royalty Streams

    Music catalogs and drug royalties pay out like bonds but are bought and sold like equities. This paper compares the discount rates buyers really use, and what happened to catalog prices once interest rates rose.

    Media & Royalties In progress
Reports published
12
Founded, recently launched
Est. 2026

Admissions

Apply to become an analyst

We’re looking for high schoolers who are genuinely interested in markets, investing, or business, whether or not they’ve studied finance before. What matters most is that you’ll put in the work to learn the methodology and write something worth publishing.

Start your application

Opens the Daily Finance Fund application portal.

  • No prior finance experience required. We train from the fundamentals.
  • High school students currently enrolled, any grade.
  • Selective admission. The application takes real thought.
  • A real time commitment. Training and report-writing happen over weeks, not a single afternoon.