Finance Investment Screening

Use this skill when the right output is a disciplined filter, not a full memo for every candidate.

Use when

• The user wants to screen several ideas or opportunities.
• You need to decide what deserves deeper diligence.
• Data quality varies across candidates and confidence must be part of the screen.

Do not use when

• The user already wants a full deep-dive memo on one candidate.
• No meaningful screening criteria can be defined.
• The available inputs are too thin even for directional gating.

Screening rules

• Define the gates before screening the names.
• A candidate can fail for valuation, quality, leverage, or confidence reasons.
• Missing data is a real screening factor, not a footnote.
• Classification should be simple and decision-oriented.

Workflow

1. Define the gates

Typical gates:

• valuation attractiveness
• business quality
• balance-sheet resilience
• execution or cycle risk
• confidence or data quality

2. Run the first-pass filter

For each candidate, classify whether it looks:

• attractive
• watchlist
• caution

3. Explain the blocking factor

If a candidate does not clear the bar, say whether the blocker is:

• too expensive
• weak quality
• fragile balance sheet
• low confidence due to missing data

4. Rank next-step priority

State:

• which candidate deserves deeper diligence first
• which should remain on a watchlist
• which should be deprioritized

Output format

Return:

1. Screening criteria

• gates used
• threshold logic

2. Candidate screen

• candidate
• classification
• main pass/fail reason
• confidence level

3. Priority order

• who deserves deeper work first
• what exact data would change borderline cases

Use together with

• finance-comparable-valuation
• finance-dcf-valuation
• finance-thesis-stress-test