Hedge funds use different criteria for selecting their favorite analysts, according to Institutional Investor‘s Alpha magazine. Alpha took the results of its recent research-team surveys and extracted just the responses from hedge funds for some interesting results. Both hedge funds and everyone else picking all-Europe and Emerging EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) research teams say UBS is tops. But while the overall survey tapped Citigroup as the runner-up, the 420 hedge fund responses gave their votes to Morgan Stanley, which ranked seventh overall. JP Morgan occupied the 10th spot overall, but seventh among hedge funds, and while Lehman Brothers was fourth among all respondents, HFs placed it ninth. Why the differences? Aloha says “hedge funds put a premium on analysts who can think outside the box.” Further, says Alpha, “One of the key to winning the hearts, and the wallets, of hedge fund managers is the speed” with which a firm gets smart investment ideas to clients. “The simple formula for success when it comes to serving hedge funds,” concludes Alpha, is “Make calls that make money.”
