About Us
Based in London, UK, we are a team of financial professionals with a passion for teaching.
Our long-term mission is to raise standards in the equity research industry.
Our Story
2010 I Initial Publication
In 2010, Gillian Elcock published an award winning book entitled How to Get an Equity Research Analyst Job. Targeted towards business school and undergraduate students, it is a primer on how to break into the asset management industry. The book is also useful for people who want to make a career switch into equity research, and for those who are interested in sell side equity research positions.
2010 I Denny Ellison Enterprises
The same year, she founded Denny Ellison. The company became a successful independent equity research provider, delivering customised research to leading asset management firms.
2015 I Research Analyst Survey
In 2015, the team of research analysts at Denny Ellison came together with a shared vision: How to accelerate the learning progression of equity research analysts?
They surveyed hundreds of analysts across Europe to identify their biggest productivity constraints.
The findings revealed challenges in time management, baseline skill sets, best practice examples, and managerial support.
2016 I Training Division
A year later, they developed a training program to address each of these points, one-by-one, and trained their research analysts on teaching techniques.
This led to the creation of Denny Ellison’s training division in 2016, under the direction of Eveline Varin, who later became CEO in 2020.
Present I Recent Developments
With nearly a decade of training experience, they have expanded their offerings with several additional training programs.
After launching their initial sell-side training program, they introduced a buy-side offering, expanded into universities and business schools, moved online during COVID, and partnered with an ESG provider to offer ESG training.
Our Team
Dr. Levon Babalyan, CFA
Levon has more than 20 years of experience in investment research. After his doctorate in Economics/Finance on earnings management, he joined Kepler Cheuvreux as a sell-side equity research analyst. He then worked at RobecoSAM as Head of Research and covered the Consumer and Energy sectors. He is currently the MD at Amberd Capital.
Kepler Cheuvreux I RobecoSAM I Amberd Capital
Usha Back
Usha worked at Capital Group for several years as an investment analyst responsible for the coverage of the European biotech, mid cap pharma and real estate sectors. She holds a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical excipients from the University of London, School of Pharmacy. Usha also conducted the investment management programmes at London Business School.
Capital Group I Findia
Catharina Hillenbrand von der Neyen
Catharina has more than 25 years of experience as an equity research analyst. She worked at Nomura, CA Cheuvreux and Allianz, covering the Energy, Utilities, Industrials and ESG sectors. She moved to the Carbon Tracker Initiative as an MD and head of research. She holds an MBAeq from ESSEC and a Diplom-Kaufmann from Mannheim.
Nomura I CA Cheuvreux I Allianz I Carbon Tracker
Alok Katre, ACA, CFA
Alok worked as a sell-side equity research analyst for nearly 17 years at Societe Generale CIB, HSBC and an S&P affiliate, covering Capital Goods, Aerospace & Defense, and Building Materials. Before that he worked at Merrill Lynch India in investment banking. He is engaged as a Faculty of Finance at SCMHRD and currently runs a personal finance consulting practice.
Merrill Lynch I HSBC I Societe Generale CIB
Dr. Zafar Khan
Zafar has nearly 40 years of experience in equity research, including over 20 years at sell-side broker Societe Generale, where he was the Head of European Capital Goods and Head of Research. After becoming MD he developed the global Aerospace & Defence franchise. He has a PhD in computational Fluid Dynamics and an MBA from Bayes Business School.
Prudential I Scott Goff Layton I Societe Generale CIB
Gian Luca Manca
Gian Luca has over 20 years of research experience. He has covered several sectors including Retailers, HPC, and Luxury Goods at UBS Wealth Management, HSBC and Bryan Garnier. He headed the UBS WMR team in London. He also worked as an Italian equity analyst at Robert Fleming Securities, Baring Securities and Paribas. He holds a degree in Economics from the University G. Marconi.
Brian Garnier I HSBC I UBS Wealth Management
Guy Norman
Guy has nearly 10 years of experience in buy-side equity research covering a broad range of industries including Tech, Resources and Financials, He worked at Standard Life and Border to Coast Pensions. He started his career at Accenture in London covering UK Telecoms. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the University of Cambridge.
Standard Life I Border to Coast Pensions
Eveline Varin
Eveline worked at Morgan Stanley as a sell-side equity research analyst in the Consumer sector for many years. Before that she worked at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein in the general Retail sector. Eveline holds a master’s degree in international management from ESCP-EAP and conducted her classes prépartoires at Lycée privé Ste Genevieve.
Dresdner Kleinwort I Morgan Stanley
Tailored Solutions
Each training program delivered is carefully tailored to the specific learning and development needs and skill-building targets of our clients.
For each delivery we will determine together the optimal format, including the duration, relevant sections, depth of subjects, level of interaction with participants, delivery style (coaching or teaching), and the amount of assessment and feedback to management.
Certified Training
Our core financial analysis module is certified by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) and endorsed as Continuous Professional Development.
Each participant also receives the Denny Ellison certificate.
Guaranteed Satisfaction
We are committed to delivering high-quality training that meets our clients' expectations and work closely with them to ensure complete satisfaction.
We aim to protect and nurture our relationship with each of our clients, and are committed to providing the highest quality service.
We will be trustworthy and open with our clients, and responsive to their requests. Our trainers and mentors will seek to deliver the best teaching and advice they can to the analysts that join our training program.