After slipping to second place last year, CLSA reclaims the summit of Institutional Investor’s All-India Sales Team. This is its third victory in the four years of the survey’s existence.
Kotak Securities, which captures first place for the first time on the All-India Research Team, jumps from No. 5 to No. 2 on this roster. Credit Suisse holds steady in third place, while last year’s winner, Morgan Stanley, falls to No. 4. IIFL rounds out the top five.
“What I like most about CLSA’s team is that they understand the client needs more than trying to push their own ideas aggressively,” reports one money manager. (Unless instructed otherwise, we keep confidential the identities of survey respondents and their firms to ensure their continuing cooperation.) “They flag important issues and let me take the initiative of reaching out to them, if there’s a need. They are also accommodative when it comes to requests for meetings.”
That sentiment is echoed by another satisfied client. “They stay on top of news and events taking place in India, put in their thoughts and analysis along with the research [department’s] views, and make sure I’m updated,” this respondent explains. “They are also extremely responsive and accommodating to requests and queries.”
A third investor notes that “too many salespeople add to the din rather than helping clients navigate through it, but the CLSA sales team does a credible job of helping distill the high level of noise into the few genuinely useful pieces of information.”
A number of buy-side respondents single out particular salespeople for special praise. Among the comments we heard:
• Melrick D’Souza “leverages the company’s strong networks in India — corporate and political — to keep you current on the latest investor concerns. In addition, the firm works with you to finalize a personalized Indian tour that is tailored to your needs.”
• Manish Gupta and Lai Yin (Vonnie) Chan “are the two salespeople I would like to mention by name — they’re great.”
• “I particularly appreciate the insights that Sujay Kamath shares on occasion.”
Comparable praise is directed at the Kotak sales crew. “They are the smartest guys in the industry,” declares one fund manager. “They understand the fundamentals of companies better than any other salespeople on the entire Street. They are also people of very high integrity and always pitch ideas keeping in mind the clients’ best interests. That’s a quality I highly respect.”
A second Kotak client believes that “the research focus of the sales team is good, and their conferences are top class.”
Each year II invites participants in the broader All-India Research Team survey to name up to four firms that they feel provide the best sales support. We received responses from over 210 buy-side analysts and money managers at more than 135 firms that collectively manage an estimated $116 billion in Indian equity assets. About 83 percent of the people who cast votes in the research team survey, representing 92 percent of the participating buy-side institutions, answered our question about the best sales teams.
A total of 28 firms appear on this year’s All-India Sales Team roster. To view the top ten, click on the Leaders link located in the navigation table on the right. Information about squads that meet minimum-vote and other eligibility criteria but do not appear in the top ten is available from the Institutional Investor Research Group. To learn more please contact Alyssa Walker at awalker@iiresearchgroup.com.
For details regarding how we compiled this ranking, click on Methodology.
