Plantation Adventure Case Study

Abstract

The story told here is of conflict of interest in equity research. When researching a company, an equity analyst may be swayed, in this case through perceived friendship, by the management of that company. An equity analyst has the obligation to give objective and honest recommendations to clients. I use virtue ethics to explain why sell side equity analysts have this obligation and why it is important to act virtuously in circumstances similar to the one I experienced in my plantation adventure.