Bond and credit specialists overseeing more than a quarter of the $40 trillion U.S. fixed-income market have spoken: JPMorgan Chase & Co. is still No. 1 in research.
Based on 1,900 survey responses, the bank extends its reign for a ninth year in Institutional Investor’s 2018 All-America Fixed-Income Research Team, leading a pack of providers that is virtually unchanged from 2017. Each of the top five firms earned roughly the same number of team positions as last year with the exception of second place finisher Bank of America Merrill Lynch, which improved from 41 to 46 and edged closer to JPMorgan’s 52 ranked analysts.
Wells Fargo, Barclays, and Citi rounded out II’s top five research firms.
Survey respondents selected the top firms across three categories – high yield, investment grade, and economics and strategy categories – comprising 61 total investment sectors.
To select the members of the 27th annual All-America Fixed-Income Research Team, Institutional Investor sent questionnaires to bond and credit specialists at leading asset management firms around the world. We received responses from over 1900 portfolio managers and buy-side analysts at nearly 600 institutions that oversee an estimated $10.8 trillion in U.S. fixed-income assets.
In High Yield and Investment Grade sectors, respondents vote for individual analysts. In Economics & Strategy categories, they may vote for an individual or for a firm’s entire team; these votes are combined for firms in each sector.
A numerical score was produced for each qualifying entity by weighting each vote based on the fund manager’s U.S. fixed-income assets under management and on the rank awarded (first, second, third or fourth). Analysts or teams were designated runners-up when their scores fell within 35 percent of the third-teamer’s score.
Research directors indicate which analysts oversee coverage of a particular sector, and individuals cited as team leaders may not necessarily be the ones who received the most votes on behalf of that firm. Co-leaders, where applicable, are deemed to share equal responsibility for directing coverage, and their names are presented alphabetically. Analysts who switched firms after April 20, 2018, are cited at their previous organizations.
Analysts must be certified pursuant to Regulation AC to be recognized in the High-Yield and Investment-Grade research categories. No such restriction applies in Economics & Strategy sectors.
The names of those surveyed and the institutions they work for are kept confidential to ensure their continuing cooperation. Voters must meet eligibility requirements, and winners must achieve a minimum vote count. All ballots are subject to review by our Research Operations Group, and final results may be inspected by an independent auditor.
We polled 20 high-yield and 17 investment-grade research sectors, all of which fielded complete teams (first through third places). In Economics & Strategy we polled 24 sectors.
The 2018 All-America Fixed-Income Research Team was compiled by Associate Research Editor Denise Hoguet, with the assistance of Researcher Xiao Lu, under the direction of Senior Research Editor Tucker Ewing.
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