J.P. Morgan Retains Crown for Europe Fixed-Income ResearchWith Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis now in its third year, money managers want all the assistance they can get to help them understand the region’s complex political and economic environment. The guidance they find most valuable is that provided by analysts at J.P. Morgan, which tops
Picking the TeamTo select the members of the 2012 All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team, Institutional Investor sent questionnaires covering 20 investment sectors to bond specialists at leading money management firms around the world. We received responses from nearly 550 individuals at more than 300 institutions globally managing an estimated $5.5 billion in European fixed-income assets. (We keep the identity of survey participants confidential to ensure their continuing cooperation.)
Respondents vote for both individual analysts and for a firm’s entire team; these votes are combined for firms in each sector. A numerical score is produced for each firm by weighting each vote based on the respondent’s European fixed-income assets under management and on the rank awarded to the firm or individual. The numerical scores are used to determine the rankings. A team is designated runner-up when its scores falls within 35 percent of the third-teamer score. As with all of our research team surveys, 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.
Typically, the analyst recognized as the leader of each winning group is either the individual designated as team leader by the firm or the analyst recognized most frequently by investors. In the High-Yield and Investment-Grade research categories, only those analysts who publish independent research as defined by the Financial Services Authority are eligible to be recognized as team leaders. No such restriction applies to team leaders in Economics & Strategy, in accordance with FSA regulations. Analysts who switched firms after October 28, 2011, are cited at their previous organizations.
We polled four High-Yield sectors, three which produced complete results (first through third place); Basic Materials fielded only a No. 1 team. Of six Investment-Grade sectors polled, only two — Banking & Financial Services (complete team) and Technology, Media & Telecommunications (first place only) — produced publishable results; Basic Materials, Manufacturing/General Industrials, Retailing/Consumer Products and Utilities did not receive enough votes to warrant inclusion.
Eight of the ten Economics & Strategy sectors delivered complete results: Credit Derivatives produced a first-place team only, and High-Yield Strategy fielded just the top two teams.
This ranking was compiled by Senior Editor Tucker Ewing and Associate Editor Denise Hoguet under the direction of Managing Editor Thomas W. Johnson.
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