Research FAQ

1. Where can I find annual reports? What about historical annual reports? 

Annual reports are freely available at SEDAR (Canadian) and EDGAR (U.S.).  They can also be found in various databases, such as Mergent if you'd like to export the financials in Excel, or Capital IQ. 

For historical annual reports, go to Mergent Archives and select the Annual Reports tab. 

2. I am an alumni and can't access the MHL resources.  Are there free websites I can use to find company and industry information?

Yes, please check out this page for links. 

3. I was looking for information on the Statistics Canada website and ran into a paywall.  Is this data available at U of T? 

Yes, go to CANSIM through the Data Library website or CHASS. 

4. How do I find electronic articles from the Economist/Harvard Business Review/other magazines?  Can I browse through an issue online? 

1) Yes, search the catalogue and you'll see how to access it electronically.  If you are off-campus, you will have to log in to use the resources.  The Economist is available in ProQuest (open then go to Publications in the top navigation bar, then search) and HBR is in Business Source Premier.  

2) Depends on access - but browsing enables you to browse by article, not through an issue like you do with the print version.  ProQuest and Business Source Premier both have good browsing functions; Factiva does not. 

Instructions for finding Harvard Articles:

1. Select the Business Source Premier database from the drop down list on the BIC web site home page.
2. Click on the Publications list from the top left croner of the Business Source Premier search page.
3. Enter "Harvard Business Review" in the Browse for: search box. Click the Browse button.
4. Select the "Harvard Business Review" link from the top of the search results list.
5. Click the "Search within this publication" link on the upper right hand side of the HBR page
6. Enter some keywords from the title of the article or author names in the middle search box of the search page (JN "Harvard Business Review" will be in the top search box)
7. Click Search.
8. Select the full-text article from the results page

5. Where can I find newspaper articles?  

If you're looking for articles on a specific topic, try searching in ProQuest or Factiva.  If you are looking for a specific newspaper, search the title in the catalogue.  Note that Factiva does not allow you to browse issues, but ProQuest does.  The Globe and Mail and Toronto Star are available in ProQuest. 

6. Which databases do I use to find league tables? 

Bloomberg (MHL or Finance Lab) or SDC Platinum (MHL only). 

For SDC Platinum, select the M&A tab, choose the targets, click OK.

Enter the time range. There is a one month embargo on the data, the previous 30 days are not available. Choose the company tab and enter selected criteria from there (e.g. Target Nation - Search for Canada)

Make your selection, then close search items.  Choose League Table menu -> Open existing report -> choose SDC standard

Choose (e.g. financial advisors), click OK.  Assign the report title, click on execute, then save.

Bloomberg - Type MA, press GO, select "Custom Search".  Enter your criteria, and included in the results tabs will be a tab for the league table.

If you type LEAG and press GO, you will be directed to the underwriter rankings for equity, debt, or syndicated loans.

The BIC's Thomson One subscription does not include access to league tables.

7. Where can I find M&A transactions for a company? 

Start with Capital IQ, at the Finance Lab terminal or in the Finance Lab.  Look up the company, then on the left side bar, find the M&A category. You can export results in Excel or Word.

You can also run M&A screenings in Capital IQ, if you wish to look by industry or other criteria. 

8. I want to find market research, but all of the market research databases listed don't have information on my industry.  Will the library buy a market research report that I've found online? If not, what can I do?

1) No, the library does not acquire online market reports for students.  They tend to be very expensive and we can not afford to accommodate these requests. 

2) If you can not find market research reports for your industry, try gathering the data through other sources - check association websites, news articles, reports from companies like PWC, KPMG, Deloitte, etc; try bank websites to see if they have any analysis on the industry.  Also check demographic and statistical data from government sources.  Checking competitors reports can also provide market data. 

9. I want to run a screening with a list of companies in Capital IQ, but in the screening function, I can't figure out how to add companies by name. 

Create a watchlist of companies, and add the watchlist in your screening criteria.  

10. How can I run a screening for a list of companies in a specific industry?

There are several options, and which one you use depends on what you're looking to get out of it.  If you're looking for potential employers in Canada, LexisNexis is a good start (instructions here) You can narrow your search down by location - keep in mind that searching Toronto will not necessarily show results for the GTA. 

If you're looking to screen for comparables, try Capital IQ or Mergent.  You can add in financial criteria, etc, to narrow down your search.

Last updated March 31, 2021.