Before the ballot opens: the 2026 Extel All-America Research Survey

The time has nearly come. This year's Extel All-America Research Survey will open on Tuesday, May 26. By October, the results will land and the sell-side will spend a few days either celebrating or ruminating. Rankings will be dissected, press releases will go out, and business owners will either hype themselves up or explain themselves away to upper management.

The moment of truth for the sell-side will always come at a discrete, conscious moment where the buy side is actively evaluating the quality of their research. For some, this is at the point of their broker vote, and for others, it is at the opening of the Extel survey itself. In these moments, marketing can activate a relationship, but it cannot manufacture one. By the same token, a solid relationship without activation is a missed opportunity. 

Both strong year-round engagement and a sharp pre-vote campaign are necessary to reach the top of the rankings. The holistic coverage will build your relationship while the marketing run-up is what converts that relationship into deliberate votes. While most understand this theory in principle, not all will have the conviction or the infrastructure to back it up. At stake is real revenue, which makes it all the more surprising when sufficient resources are not allocated to these efforts. 

The long game

The firms that top the rankings aren't there by accident — they engineer their results through deliberate, year-round relationship management. That means knowing exactly who to contact inside key accounts, and precisely which clients will value corporate access in which format and with which companies. This is backed by clearly defined and tracked engagement targets, and a consistent view of who has gone quiet, so coverage gaps surface before they become ranking gaps. No marketing campaign is sophisticated enough to compensate for a year of inconsistent contact. 

Content strategy is equally deliberate. The most commercially effective firms identify the stocks, sectors, and themes where their analysts have a genuine edge and build relentlessly around those focus areas throughout the year, positioning specific analysts as the first call on specific topics. 

There is another longer-term lever that often goes underutilized: emerging talent. Identifying high-potential analysts early and investing in their brand through content, events, and systematic client engagement can produce material ranking gains over a few survey cycles. These are high-return investments that compound over time.

Landing the ask

The run-up to the vote or to the survey should be about concentrating effort where targeted investment can actually change the outcome. Before a single marketing email is scheduled or sales briefing is planned, the question to answer is: which analysts are close to gaining a ranked position, and which are at risk of losing one? That analysis should determine where the attention goes.

From there, the strategy has a timeline. A high-conviction publication in February creates a conversation. A roundtable in March deepens it. A targeted 1x1 in April closes the loop. By the time the voting opens in May, the relationship has had multiple meaningful touchpoints and the ask for a vote lands in context. Running in parallel: events, webinars, and press coverage that amplify visibility at exactly the right moment.

The flywheel

Many firms lack the data, the technology, and/or the people to turn account strategy into consistent action. The ones that have invested in that infrastructure will always hold a structural advantage, as they can see where relationships need work before voting opens, not after.

This is also where the compounding begins. Better year-round coverage produces stronger relationships, well-sequenced marketing converts them more effectively, and the results clarify where to invest the following year. Extel should be less of a once-a-year surprise and more of an ongoing feedback loop. 

To me, that compounding becomes exponential in the age of AI. The possibilities are endless with the right analysts, infrastructure, and technology. More of this to come as I explore what this actually means in practice...

As always, I am open to collaborations, and would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. 

KTB