In a new research note published today, “Mobile Markets: Too Flexible to Fail,” TABB Group says that fast emerging financial communities on social networks, disseminating financial data much faster than traditional media outlets, now rival investment banks as a source for market color, trading analysis and investment ideas.

“Investment banks no longer have the “axe” for information,” says TABB research analyst Henry Chien. Leveraged by mobile technology, crowd-sourcing information is emerging as a new source of alpha for participants, from Generation Y to Baby Boomers, representing the next stage of innovation in trading and investment research.

For Generation Y, the exchange of ideas is more likely to happen over blog posts, message boards and tweets with communication done increasingly through different mobile devices. “In a 24/7 connected world, the desktop is anachronistic,” Chien says. “The consumer habits of Gen Y investors are shaping the future of Wall Street and financial firms need to have an IT infrastructure that can adapt to and capitalize on these habits.”

“Mobile Markets: Too Flexible to Fail” is based on interviews with financial advisors, hedge funds, asset managers, brokers, data providers and start-up companies. The note identifies key trends in the industry shaping next-generation workflows, driving the need for flexible infrastructure to succeed.

As investors become more pro-active in their appetite for investment research, Chien says that although market information and analysis are widespread, they want personalized advice more than ever in today’s volatile market environment.

For IT managers, lower infrastructure costs are driving a decentralization of the financial advisory business, as more advisors turn independent and utilize new social channels to communicate value-added market views and insights.

“For the last decade, transformation was driven by sheer computing power in search of connectivity, efficiency and automation,” says Chien. ”Today, capital markets innovations are becoming more humanistic, building an infrastructure to facilitate a more social, mobile and flexible business environment.”

The Executive Summary for this 9-page research note with 6 exhibits is available online. TABB Group Research Alliance Equity clients and pre-qualified media can download the research note at www.tabbgroup.com. For more information or to order the report, write to info@tabbgroup.com.

About TABB Group

With offices in New York, London and expansion to Asia-Pacific, TABB Group is the only financial markets research firm focused solely on capital markets, based on the proven interview-based research methodology of “first-person knowledge” developed by founder Larry Tabb. For more information, visit www.tabbgroup.com. In January 2010, TABB launched TabbFORUM, the online global capital markets community covering analyses of current issues, tracked daily by more than 13,000 professionals.