VOL. XCIV, NO. 247

★ FINANCIAL TOOLS & SERVICES DIRECTORY ★

PRICE: 5 CENTS

Wednesday, November 19, 2025

Tool Comparison

BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database vs Value Investors Club (VIC) 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 News, Newsletters, 13F, Investor Holdings, Watchlist, and Alerts coverage that Value Investors Club (VIC) skips.

Value Investors Club (VIC) includes Forums 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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Value Investors Club (VIC) logo

Value Investors Club (VIC)

valueinvestorsclub.com

Hands-on review

A legendary forum for deep-dive investment write-ups, founded in 1999 by Joel Greenblatt and John Petry. Membership is free but extremely selective, with obligations to contribute original ideas to stay active. Guests can read older ideas on a delayed basis, while full members have real-time access and can join discussions. Twice a month, the best write-up earns a $5,000 prize. The site carries no ads and no paid subscriptions, emphasizing community quality over monetization.

Platforms

Web

Pricing

Free

Quick highlights

  • Highly selective membership: applicants must submit a current idea to be considered; only a few hundred active members at any time.
  • Members are required to post at least two ideas per year (up to six) and rate 20 ideas annually to maintain access.
  • Each idea has its own discussion thread, with members able to mark certain comments as private (visible to members only).
  • Guest users can browse delayed content: free signup grants access to 45-day-old ideas, while non-logged visitors see ideas after 90 days.
  • Robust search and filters for idea discovery, including long/short orientation, performance, ratings, and geography.

Community votes (overall)

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Where they differ

BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database

Distinct strengths include:

  • 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.).

Value Investors Club (VIC)

Distinct strengths include:

  • Highly selective membership: applicants must submit a current idea to be considered; only a few hundred active members at any time.
  • Members are required to post at least two ideas per year (up to six) and rate 20 ideas annually to maintain access.
  • Each idea has its own discussion thread, with members able to mark certain comments as private (visible to members only).
  • Guest users can browse delayed content: free signup grants access to 45-day-old ideas, while non-logged visitors see ideas after 90 days.

Feature-by-feature breakdown

AttributeBuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter DatabaseValue Investors Club (VIC)
Categories

Which research workflows each platform targets

Shared: Stock Ideas

Unique: News, Newsletters, 13F, Investor Holdings, Watchlist, Alerts

Shared: Stock Ideas

Unique: Forums

Asset types

Supported asset classes and universes

Stocks, ETFs

Stocks, Bonds

Experience levels

Who each product is built for

Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced

Intermediate, Advanced

Platforms

Where you can access the product

Web

Web

Pricing

High-level pricing models

Free

Free

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

  • Highly selective membership: applicants must submit a current idea to be considered; only a few hundred active members at any time.
  • Members are required to post at least two ideas per year (up to six) and rate 20 ideas annually to maintain access.
  • Each idea has its own discussion thread, with members able to mark certain comments as private (visible to members only).
  • Guest users can browse delayed content: free signup grants access to 45-day-old ideas, while non-logged visitors see ideas after 90 days.
  • Robust search and filters for idea discovery, including long/short orientation, performance, ratings, and geography.
  • Bi-monthly $5,000 “Best Idea” prize for the top member submission.
Tested

Verified by hands-on testing inside Find My Moat

Not yet

Yes

Editor pick

Featured inside curated shortlists

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Frequently Asked Questions

Which workflows do BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database and Value Investors Club (VIC) both support?

Both platforms cover Stock Ideas 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 Value Investors Club (VIC) require subscriptions?

Both BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database and Value Investors Club (VIC) 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 Value Investors Club (VIC)?

Both BuySide Digest — Hedge Fund Letter Database and Value Investors Club (VIC) 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 Value Investors Club (VIC) stands out for Highly selective membership: applicants must submit a current idea to be considered; only a few hundred active members at any time., Members are required to post at least two ideas per year (up to six) and rate 20 ideas annually to maintain access., and Each idea has its own discussion thread, with members able to mark certain comments as private (visible to members only)..

Keep exploring

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.