The future looked grim for the sell-side research industry. Commissions were in decline and under pressure from regulation that had disrupted the old business model. Major research providers were reducing headcount and coverage as buy-side clients spent less money on both trading and external investment research. Then 2020 happened. As the coronavirus pandemic spread around the globe, freezing up economies and upending all expectations for how markets would behave, investors found themselves with far more questions than answers — and demand for sell-side research skyrocketed. All year long, in every market around the world, top-ranking research professionals interviewed by Institutional Investor reported sharp increases in readership of research reports, interactions between analysts and clients, and attendance at (now virtual) investor conferences and corporate access events.