FactSet Workstation Reviews and Ratings

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use it every day to track global financial markets, holdings, watchlists, and macro eco-data. The system helps me analyze portfolios using portfolio guide. The problem is that it doesnt work at 100% all the time, and FactSet Workstation tech team sometimes doesnt know how to fix the issues.

Likelihood to Recommend

To get follow macro data, equity/FI specific tickers data (i.e., financials, ratios, duration, etc.), charts, quotes, all of the above works great.

DC2, Portfolio Guide construction is terrible; although, the actual report or the idea behind it is great. The issue is that it has too many problems, not consistent, and tech team has no idea how to fix some of the issues.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use FactSet every single day. It's an integral component of my investor relations efforts from tracking analyst estimates and research, to conducting valuation reports, and auditing peer companies. I also rely very heavily upon the Irwin component for my CRM, targeting, and stock surveillance. It is truly the full package, a one-stop shop, that enhances my workflows and efficiency. I recommend this to every IR team.

Likelihood to Recommend

FactSet works for all my IR needs. I do not see a function for which I use it for that it would be less appropriate. I believe that the tool's efforts towards becoming more integrated with AI are strong and that in time the Mercury offering will be just as competitive as some of the other AI offerings out there today such as AlphaSense.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I am a senior equity research analyst and I use it to research stocks.

Likelihood to Recommend

FactSet Workstation is great for equity research. It is very simple to use and has the most crucial items an analyst needs. Wish it can bridge some of the gaps a Bloomberg terminal can provide such as the search function and most importantly the chat function. You can easily find an investor on Bloomberg and get the contact info to do more research, it's basically non-existent on FactSet Workstation.

Also, I use the FactSet Workstation news function and a lot of times, the news are a repeat of the same thing through the day. I feel like reading the same thing. Better to send one less update if the customer/user already read it.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use FactSet Workstation as part of our investment research process. It is an easy to navigate UI that streamlines data collection and research-related materials in one place. We also use the Excel functions for financial modeling.

Likelihood to Recommend

We have used FactSet Workstation for several years, I had prior experience with the product. My firm was using CapitalIQ and I found the solution to be meaningfully weaker and lobbied to change.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I primarily use FactSet Workstation to download data through its Excel add-in, from which I can build financial models for analyzing stocks, bonds and funds as well as managing portfolios. I receive real-time alerts from FactSet Workstation on all investments on my watchlist as well as major market moving events. I also monitor portfolios, markets and news flow during the day through the Workstation.

Likelihood to Recommend

Well suited for managing equity portfolios but not sure about other asset classes

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

FactSet is a great one-stop application to use for market data, news, research, modeling, and alerts. During the quarterly earnings reporting season, it is a very valuable tool to stay organized and stay informed when multiple companies are reporting earnings on the same day and I need to stay focused on changes that impact investment decision making. It is also a very user-friendly interface whether working at my desktop, a notebook, tablet or my mobile phone.

Likelihood to Recommend

As an equity focused investment manager, it is a great all-in-one platform to work from. It solves all our needs for data and Excel integration, modeling, news, market research, economic research and other investment research work. If you are a day trader, its maybe not as useful, but for a manager with normal turnover, it works great

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use FactSet as our main portfolio analytics and report tool, with access to live pricing, benchmarks, and commonly used ratios to report to our advisors and clients/prospective clients about the strategies we manage. In addition, we use FactSet for investment research, earnings reports transcripts and calls, and access to analyst reports.

Likelihood to Recommend

If a client or prospective client is looking for anything other than strictly performance and holdings which can be found in their statements, FactSet enables us to answer questions about portfolio attribution and characteristics in a fast and easy to explain way for them. If a member of our client service, advisor, or outside vendor requests any data at all about the portfolio that it needs to distribute or publish, FactSet has the tools to provide that for them but sometimes it is not so straightforward how to obtain that information.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I mainly use FactSet Workstation to view analyst estimates, challenge consensus if needed, run analyst reports, monitor peer performance, activist information, and industry trends. I also use FactSet Workstation as a backup to BDCorporate to view shareowner information.

Likelihood to Recommend

Helpdesk is very helpful, building out spreadsheets with FDS formulas. Even with requests from senior management that i do not understand, the helpdesk analyst does.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

FactSet Workstation has provided me with all the essential information I need as an analyst to conduct detailed reports on equity securities. It also allows me to monitor our company holdings in clients’ portfolios with ease of use. By having one place to go, I can keep up-to-date on every equity security and save time from jumping back and forth between a company’s investor relations page and other sources during earnings season.

Likelihood to Recommend

FactSet Workstation is a excellent product for equity research analysts who want to stay up-to-date on their equity holdings and find specific information on publicly traded companies. This includes things like historical financial data, company filings, analyst estimates, and projections. FactSet Workstation is a one stop shop place where I can access everything I would need as a equity analyst working in portfolio management.

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use FactSet Workstation for portfolio analysis, risk models, equity screening, data management and market monitoring in my role as a portfolio manager. FactSet screens and tools help with generating investment ideas and portfolio attribution. The main problem FactSet solves for our firm is the aggregation of data into one platform. That feature is a huge time saver compared to piece-meal data from several sources.

Likelihood to Recommend

It's very well suited for managing a portfolio of equites. It's also excellent for financial and economic research. FactSet would not be appropriate for smaller mangers due to its high cost. Also, if you're looking to integrate outside data sources into your FactSet jobs, it can be very difficult. We've had better luck using Bloomberg for that.