Institutional-grade sector intelligence.
Built for the IC memo, not a literature review.
Market sizing, reimbursement dynamics, competitive intelligence, and valuation benchmarking - structured for healthcare investment committee review. For PE funds entering new theses, banks expanding sub-sector coverage, and health systems evaluating new markets. Practitioner-built, typically two to five business days.
Most internal sector research produces a literature review. Investment committees need research built to support a decision.
The IC memo on a new sub-sector requires more than a Google search and a PitchBook pull. Most internal research produces outdated market size citations, competitive landscape lists that miss the PE-backed consolidators already in market, and reimbursement summaries that don’t translate to what the margins look like at exit. The associate who built it doesn’t know the sub-sector. The principal who reads it does.
The same pattern plays out on the banking side: an analyst assigned to a new vertical pulls Definitive Healthcare data, formats it in a deck, and calls it a market overview. No CAGR decomposition. No MA penetration by geography. No reimbursement channel breakdown. Nothing on which PE platforms are actively consolidating versus approaching saturation. The first question from a sophisticated buyer on the first call surfaces the gaps.
What IC memos need: market sizing broken out by sub-segment, geography, and reimbursement channel, with the CAGR drivers named. Competitive intelligence that maps the active consolidators and characterizes their platform maturity. Reimbursement and regulatory dynamics specific to the sub-sector. Valuation benchmarking anchored to real transactions in the sub-sector rather than industry-level EV/EBITDA ranges.
The firms that enter new verticals with conviction build the sector picture before the IC meeting, from practitioner-built research calibrated to the specific thesis rather than a report everyone already has.
Sector intelligence your IC can act on.
Delivered as an executive summary memo and structured data appendix. Format varies by engagement - typically includes market sizing, reimbursement dynamics, competitive landscape, valuation benchmarking, and strategic framing.
Market sizing and CAGR decomposition
Total addressable market sized by sub-segment, geography, and reimbursement channel. CAGR decomposition with growth drivers named: volume drivers versus rate drivers, demographic tailwinds, reimbursement expansion or compression, and the MA penetration trend that affects every payer mix projection in the sector. Scoped to what is relevant to the investment thesis.
Sub-sector structure and landscape
The market structure that shapes every deal in the sector - independent versus affiliated provider mix, fragmentation by geography, consolidation maturity by MSA, and a characterization of which sub-markets are still open versus being actively contested. The structural picture your team needs to assess white space before committing to a thesis.
Reimbursement and regulatory dynamics
Payer mix by sub-specialty and geography. CMS reimbursement trends with directional rate analysis and the 3-5 year trajectory most relevant to hold period economics. State-level variance where applicable. Specialty-specific regulatory considerations - 340B exposure, specialty pharmacy, scope of practice changes, certificate of need requirements - that affect entry strategy, margin durability, and exit optionality.
Competitive intelligence
Every PE-backed platform in the sub-sector mapped by entry point, acquisition history, current footprint, and platform maturity. Characterized as active competitor, potential buyer, or approaching saturation - with the vertical-entry pattern recognition that shapes thesis positioning. Strategics and public operators profiled where relevant to the competitive dynamic.
Valuation benchmarking
Platform versus add-on EBITDA multiples anchored to precedent transactions in the sub-sector, with the arbitrage math that drives every sponsor thesis. Includes the reimbursement and margin factors that drive multiple variance - why one platform trades at 12x and an otherwise similar one trades at 9x. Presented with enough transaction-level context that your IC can interrogate the comparables.
Transaction cadence analysis
Volume and velocity of deals in the sub-sector over the prior 24 to 36 months - characterizing whether the market is early-stage, actively consolidating, or late-cycle. Buyer composition by deal type. Entry timing intelligence that shapes when to move versus wait, and which consolidators are likely approaching an exit window that creates buyer or strategic partner opportunities.
Strategic framing memo
A practitioner-written memo framing the thesis implications - what the market structure means for entry positioning, where the white space is, and the three or four structural risks your IC will raise on first review. Written tight enough to be read start to finish. The section that turns the data into a point of view your deal team can defend in a room.
Three to six weeks of internal research, compressed to two to five business days.
Internal teams I have sat on took three to six weeks to produce what we deliver in two to five business days. The difference is practitioner judgment applied to data most analysts can access but cannot interpret without sub-sector experience.
- Data extraction infrastructure that queries CMS databases, state licensing files, NPI registries, SEC filings for public operators, commercial provider data, and precedent transaction databases in parallel rather than serially.
- Sub-sector calibration - what the CAGR means for hold period economics, which reimbursement dynamics are durable versus cyclical, where the consolidation picture is heading, and which competitive dynamics are worth flagging versus noise.
- Practitioner framing applied to every section: output is written for an investment committee. Calibrated for review on Day 1, ready for the IC without a rework pass.
Research is scoped on a 25-minute discovery call. Complexity of the sub-sector, breadth of geography, and whether a market map is in scope alongside the research all affect the timeline and fee.
Built for deal teams entering unfamiliar territory.
Private equity funds
Finalizing a thesis entry in a new specialty vertical. Typical use: the investment committee needs market structure intelligence before committing to active sourcing - and the research needs to be IC-ready the day it lands.
PE-backed healthcare platforms
Entering an adjacent sub-specialty or new geography. Typical use: the platform has identified an expansion thesis but needs the market sizing, reimbursement context, and competitive landscape before committing to a BD hire or active outreach program.
Investment banks
Expanding coverage into a new healthcare sub-sector. Typical use: a banker is pitching a sell-side mandate in a sub-sector their team covers infrequently - and needs to arrive at the first management meeting with defensible market intelligence.
Health systems
Evaluating market entry, partnership strategy, or a new clinical service line. Typical use: a health system evaluating an MSA or a sub-specialty consolidation opportunity needs an independent market structure view before committing internal resources to a strategic planning process.
Two to five business days typical.
Most sector research engagements deliver in that window. Broader sub-sector scope, national geography, or combined market map engagements may extend the timeline. Scoped on the discovery call.
Fixed project fee.
Scoped by sub-sector complexity, breadth of analysis, and engagement depth. Standard structure: 50% deposit to kick off work, 50% net 30 on delivery. Healthcare M&AI does not use success fees, contingency compensation, or transaction-based pricing - all engagements are advisory research.
Recent engagements.
Client names and deal identifiers withheld. Output paraphrased to preserve confidentiality.
A PE fund finalizing a thesis in a new specialty sub-sector needed IC-ready market intelligence before committing to active sourcing or a full-time BD hire. Delivered market sizing with CAGR decomposition by reimbursement channel, active consolidator mapping with platform maturity characterization, precedent transaction valuation benchmarking anchored to deals closed in the prior 24 months, and a strategic framing memo positioning the entry thesis against the competitive dynamic. The research served as the foundation for the fund’s IC materials on the vertical.
A healthcare-focused advisory firm expanding into a new specialty vertical needed market structure intelligence to support a pitch to an existing PE sponsor client. Delivered sub-sector landscape, reimbursement dynamics with directional rate analysis, competitive landscape mapping of active consolidators and their acquisition cadence, and valuation benchmarking against recent comparable transactions. The research package served as the market backdrop for the firm’s first IC presentation in the sub-sector.
Common questions about sector research.
What healthcare sub-sectors do you cover?
Core verticals with deepest practitioner experience include urgent care, oncology, post-acute, physician services (primary care, multi-specialty, specialty), ophthalmology, dental, and behavioral health. Adjacent verticals are scoped with additional intake during the discovery call.
How is this different from a syndicated market research report?
Every engagement is custom-built for a specific sub-sector, thesis, and use case - whether it is an IC memo, a pitch book, or a board pre-read. Output is practitioner-framed, structured for your specific deal context, and written to answer the questions your IC will ask.
Can sector research be combined with a market map?
Yes. Sector research and market mapping are frequently scoped together for funds entering a new vertical - the sector intelligence frames the thesis and the market map builds the target universe against it. Combined engagements are scoped on the discovery call.
What data sources does sector research use?
CMS databases, state licensing files, NPI registries, SEC filings for public operators, commercial provider data, payer directories, precedent transaction databases, and professional association resources. Public information only unless otherwise agreed under a mutual NDA.
Start a sector research engagement.
Tell us the sub-sector and the use case - IC memo, pitch book, thesis entry, or board pre-read. We’ll scope the engagement on a 25-minute discovery call and deliver within two to five business days.