Market data is not a decision system.
Capital IQ is the institutional standard for public-comparable data, screening, and benchmarking. Capital Refinery is the structured record of the investment decision after the screen returns its results. The two answer different questions and sit at completely different layers of the stack.
What Capital IQ does well, and where the line is.
What Capital IQ is built for
Public-comparable data, screening, and benchmark coverage at institutional scale.
Decades of fundamentals, the canonical comparable set, transaction multiples, ratings, and a mature screen builder. For deal teams sourcing and benchmarking against the public market, the dataset is the institutional standard. The product is mature, the coverage is deep, and the workflow integrations are universal.
What it is not built for
Holding the IC decision as a structured testable record.
Capital IQ is a market-data layer. It has no schema for the thesis, the conditions, or the assumptions a deal team relied on at IC. It cannot test this quarter's operator data against the entry case, because the entry case was never bound to anything inside Capital IQ. It is upstream of the decision, not the decision itself.
Where Capital Refinery sits next to it
Underneath the IC stage, on the other side of close.
Capital IQ is the source for comparables that go into the model. Capital Refinery takes the resulting investment decision and binds it to the operator data the firm collects after close. Most teams will keep both — they sit at completely different layers of the stack.
Where the lines fall.
| Capability | S&P Capital IQ | Capital Refinery |
|---|---|---|
| Public market and comparable data | Strong — institutional standard | No — different layer |
| Screening and benchmarking | Strong | No |
| Domain model for the IC decision | No | Yes — first-class object |
| Structured investment record at IC | No | Yes — bound at approval |
| Operator data → entry assumption mapping | No | Yes — the data model |
| Decision validity scoring | No | Yes — across the life of the position |
Institutional readiness measurement
S&P Capital IQ provides public-comparable data, market benchmarks, and screening — primarily for research and comparable analysis. Capital Refinery operates a category Capital IQ doesn’t: institutional readiness measurement — grading specific private operating businesses against the same 10-axis framework that buy-side ICs, lender credit committees, and LPs use to evaluate. The artifact carries a deterministic fingerprint and a public verification URL.
The two product surfaces don’t compete — they operate at different layers of the stack. Capital IQ handles third-party data and comparables; Capital Refinery handles structural readiness measurement on the specific business and decision integrity through the lifecycle. See institutional readiness and the same-engine architecture for the dimension Capital IQ doesn’t address.
Your team will keep Capital IQ. The question is what holds the decision.
Bring us a deal you sourced from a Capital IQ screen. We will show you the structured decision layer the market-data stack was not designed to produce.
Keep S&P Capital IQ if you need public-comparable data, market benchmarks, and screening. Use Capital Refinery when you need a neutral, evidence-backed readiness artifact that shows what will survive institutional review.
Capital Refinery is the institutional measurement layer. It does not replace S&P Capital IQ; it sits next to it. The decision to engage is a routing decision, not a swap.
Working with an advisor or AI consultant? Use CR as the independent measurement layer via the Modernization Impact Review. Want to shape the methodology? Apply as a design partner.