VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Wednesday, October 29, 2025

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Tool Comparison

BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database vs FOIAsearch comparison

Compare pricing, supported platforms, categories, and standout capabilities to decide which tool fits your workflow.

Quick takeaways

BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database adds Stock Ideas, News, Newsletters, 13F, and Investor Holdings coverage that FOIAsearch skips.

FOIAsearch includes Regulatory Filings Monitoring, and Flags categories that BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database omits.

In depth comparison

BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database logo

BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database

buysidedigest.com

Free, searchable database of hedge‑fund investor letters with filters by fund, CIO, ticker, keyword, theme, and quarter. Includes BSD 13F tools (tracker + holdings reports) and curated ‘Elevator Pitches’. Users can follow funds/tickers and receive email updates as new letters are added. Aggregates publicly available letters; no paid tier or API publicly documented.

Platforms

Web

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Search by fund, CIO, ticker, keyword, theme; filter by quarter; columns include QTD/YTD perf where available.
  • Per‑fund pages with letter history (table shows latest two; ‘View’ for more).
  • Follow funds or tickers and get inbox updates when new letters drop.
  • BSD 13Fs: investor screener + reports (largest buys/sells, consensus holdings, GICS weights, bargains vs. prior buys, etc.).
  • ‘Elevator Pitches’: concise stock ideas extracted from letters; weekly BSDigest newsletter.

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FOIAsearch logo

FOIAsearch

foiasearch.com

Free SEC‑FOIA log search with investor‑oriented alerts. Tracks FOIA requests filed with the SEC (post‑Oct 1, 2019), highlights requests denied under Exemption 7(A) (B7A)—a known signal of ongoing enforcement activity—and offers alerts for portfolio tickers and issuer‑relations (‘IR Watch’) plus monthly Prominent Reporter Alerts. Built by Edwin Dorsey (The Bear Cave).

Platforms

Web

Pricing

FreeSubscription

Quick highlights

  • Unified search of SEC FOIA Logs with lists for ‘All Requests’ and ‘B7A Exempt Requests’.
  • ‘Protect My Portfolio’ email alerts on FOIA activity tied to saved companies/tickers.
  • ‘IR Watch’ alerts when hedge funds, research firms, or reporters FOIA your company (IR use‑case).
  • Monthly ‘Prominent Reporter Alerts’ to see what journalists are requesting before stories publish.
  • B7A (FOIA Exemption 7(A)) call‑outs; academic work shows B7A denials are predictive of ongoing/future SEC investigations.

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Where they differ

BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database

Distinct strengths include:

Stock IdeasNewsNewsletters13FInvestor Holdings
  • Search by fund, CIO, ticker, keyword, theme; filter by quarter; columns include QTD/YTD perf where available.
  • Per‑fund pages with letter history (table shows latest two; ‘View’ for more).
  • Follow funds or tickers and get inbox updates when new letters drop.
  • BSD 13Fs: investor screener + reports (largest buys/sells, consensus holdings, GICS weights, bargains vs. prior buys, etc.).

FOIAsearch

Distinct strengths include:

Regulatory Filings MonitoringFlags
  • Unified search of SEC FOIA Logs with lists for ‘All Requests’ and ‘B7A Exempt Requests’.
  • ‘Protect My Portfolio’ email alerts on FOIA activity tied to saved companies/tickers.
  • ‘IR Watch’ alerts when hedge funds, research firms, or reporters FOIA your company (IR use‑case).
  • Monthly ‘Prominent Reporter Alerts’ to see what journalists are requesting before stories publish.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributeBuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter DatabaseFOIAsearch
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Watchlist, Alerts

Unique: Stock Ideas, News, Newsletters, 13F, Investor Holdings

Shared: Watchlist, Alerts

Unique: Regulatory Filings Monitoring, Flags

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks, ETFs

Stocks

Experience levels

Who each product is built for

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Platforms

Where you can access the product

Web

Web

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free

Free, Subscription

Key features

Core capabilities called out by each vendor

Unique

  • Search by fund, CIO, ticker, keyword, theme; filter by quarter; columns include QTD/YTD perf where available.
  • Per‑fund pages with letter history (table shows latest two; ‘View’ for more).
  • Follow funds or tickers and get inbox updates when new letters drop.
  • BSD 13Fs: investor screener + reports (largest buys/sells, consensus holdings, GICS weights, bargains vs. prior buys, etc.).
  • ‘Elevator Pitches’: concise stock ideas extracted from letters; weekly BSDigest newsletter.
  • Hosts/links original PDFs for many historical letters (e.g., Baupost archive).

Unique

  • Unified search of SEC FOIA Logs with lists for ‘All Requests’ and ‘B7A Exempt Requests’.
  • ‘Protect My Portfolio’ email alerts on FOIA activity tied to saved companies/tickers.
  • ‘IR Watch’ alerts when hedge funds, research firms, or reporters FOIA your company (IR use‑case).
  • Monthly ‘Prominent Reporter Alerts’ to see what journalists are requesting before stories publish.
  • B7A (FOIA Exemption 7(A)) call‑outs; academic work shows B7A denials are predictive of ongoing/future SEC investigations.
  • Covers SEC FOIA requests filed after Oct 1, 2019; links back to the official SEC FOIA Logs page for provenance.
Tested

Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat

Not yet

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Editor pick

Featured inside curated shortlists

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database and FOIAsearch both support?

Both platforms cover Watchlist, and Alerts workflows, so you can research those use cases in either tool before digging into the feature differences below.

Do BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database and FOIAsearch require subscriptions?

Both BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database and FOIAsearch keep freemium access with optional paid upgrades, so you can trial each platform before committing.

How can you access BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database and FOIAsearch?

Both BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database and FOIAsearch prioritize web or desktop access. Investors wanting a mobile-first workflow may need to rely on responsive web views.

What unique strengths set the two platforms apart?

BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database differentiates itself with Search by fund, CIO, ticker, keyword, theme; filter by quarter; columns include QTD/YTD perf where available., Per‑fund pages with letter history (table shows latest two; ‘View’ for more)., and Follow funds or tickers and get inbox updates when new letters drop., whereas FOIAsearch stands out for Unified search of SEC FOIA Logs with lists for ‘All Requests’ and ‘B7A Exempt Requests’., ‘Protect My Portfolio’ email alerts on FOIA activity tied to saved companies/tickers., and ‘IR Watch’ alerts when hedge funds, research firms, or reporters FOIA your company (IR use‑case)..

Keep exploring

Keep exploring

Stay on top of related tools

Browse the categories and profiles that overlap most with this comparison to round out your shortlist.

Curation & Accuracy

This directory blends AI‑assisted discovery with human curation. Entries are reviewed, edited, and organized with the goal of expanding coverage and sharpening quality over time. Your feedback helps steer improvements (because no single human can capture everything all at once).

Details change. Pricing, features, and availability may be incomplete or out of date. Treat listings as a starting point and verify on the provider’s site before making decisions. If you spot an error or a gap, send a quick note and I’ll adjust.