Episode 51: Tales of Retail: Storytelling and Analysis in the Consumer Universe with Dana Telsey, Telsey Advisory Group

You can never underestimate the power of high quality consumer research from a globally renowned team, especially when they’re led with energy and heart by a top industry analyst.

Case in point is today’s guest, long-time friend of ICR, Dana Telsey. Dana is the CEO and Chief Research Officer of Telsey Advisory Group, which was founded in 2006. The firm has grown to be a leading equity research trade execution, investment banking and consulting firm focused on the consumer space.

During her 35-year career, Dana has followed over a hundred companies. From 1994 to 2006, she was Senior Managing Director covering the retail sector at Bear Stearns. Prior to that, she was a retail analyst at CJ Lawrence and was a V.P. of the Baron Asset Fund at Baron Capital. In 2015, she also formed Telsey Consumer Fund Management, an asset management firm investing in consumer oriented companies.

Dana’s received countless awards and accolades during her career. This year, Dana was named for the third time as one of Barron’s Hundred Most Influential Women in US Finance, and she was named for a second time as one of Rethink Retail’s Top 100 Retail Influencers. And maybe most impressive is that she was a member of Institutional Investor Magazine’s All America Research Team for 13 years, from 1992 to 2005.

Dana is a regular on CNN and CNBC, she’s a fountain of energy and knowledge, and on today’s episode she has a great conversation with Tom Ryan about her career, the fascinating story of retail, and what’s to come.

Highlights:

Dana talks about getting her start in the business (3:00)
When and why she started the Telsey Advisory Group (TAG) (5:15)
The industries and segments that TAG covers (7:53)
The brands that Dana gets excited about (9:10)
How equity research has changed in the last 20 years (10:11)
Why differentiation matters for brands (11:35)
Dana talks about being one of the few women-owned firms on Wall Street (12:53)
Dana reflects on the uncertainty of the past 3 years (15:04)
Which consumer areas are currently holding up well (16:14)
Dana’s observations on technology investment (17:51)
What Dana sees happening with the IPO market, and what investors are looking for (19:26)
Capital allocation and new channels like the metaverse (21:44)
The holiday season and forecasting into 2023 (23:08)
What TAG is investing in (26:17)