Two Firms Share Lead on 2015 All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team
J.P. Morgan lands atop Institutional Investor’s All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team roster for a fifth year running, but this time shares the winner’s circle with last year’s No. 2 firm, Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The latter entity advances not by virtue of gains — it claims 14 positions this year, one fewer than in 2014 — but rather because of greater losses sustained by J.P. Morgan, whose total falls by five.
These banks are hardly alone in amassing fewer spots. Although voter participation was comparable to last year, this time around two Investment-Grade sectors — Basic Materials and Technology, Media & Telecommunications — failed to garner sufficient support to warrant publication. In addition, fewer teams meet the eligibility requirements for runner-up this year. (A team is designated runner-up when its score falls within 35 percent of the third-teamer’s score.) Owing to these factors, no firm on this year’s lineup has a higher total than it captured in 2014 with the exception of previously unranked Natixis, which ties for tenth place (with Nomura International).
Two firms also occupy third place, with 11 positions each. Barclays holds steady despite a loss of two spots, while Deutsche Bank rises from No. 4 even though its total declines by one.
The fifth tier is also shared by two banks. Morgan Stanley marks its third consecutive appearance in that spot, with five positions (down two from last year). Royal Bank of Scotland rises one rung even though its total is unchanged.
When a weighting of 4 is assigned to each first-place position, 3 to each second-place position, and so on, neither BofA Merrill nor J.P. Morgan comes out on top. That distinction belongs to Deutsche Bank. A good part of the German financial firm’s success can be attributed to James Reid, who captains two of its five top-ranked crews — those in Fixed-Income Strategy (for a fifth consecutive year) and High-Yield Strategy (for a third year running) — and one of its four second-place teams, in Investment-Grade Strategy.
Reid is one of only three analysts who have led or co-led teams to the top spot in their respective sectors every year since the All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team was reintroduced in 2011. His colleague Mark Wall is another. Working as solo captain since Gilles Moec’s departure last fall for BofA Merrill, Wall guides his colleagues in defending Deutsche Bank’s claim to the Economics throne.
Morgan Stanley’s Jacqueline Ineke is also celebrating a fifth straight victory, as director of the team that outperforms all others in the Banking & Financial Services sector.
Reid is also one of only two analysts who oversee coverage of more than one sector-topping squad this year. The other is Christophe Boulanger, whose teams continue to dominate in Manufacturing/General Industrials. The Barclays analyst co-directs (with Darren Hook) the crew deemed the best at coverage of the investment-grade names and (with Thomas Southon) the one that earns first place for its analysis of the high-yield space.
Hook and Southon are also co-leaders of the No. 3 team in Basic Materials, and Southon directs the one in third place in Utilities.
Eight of this year’s 18 top-ranked squads advance from last year. These analysts guide teams that rise from second place:
* Albert Gallo of Royal Bank of Scotland, Investment-Grade Strategy;
* Vivek Khanna of Deutsche Bank, Technology Media & Telecommunications;
* Richard Phelan of Deutsche Bank, Basic Materials; and
* Athanasios Vamvakidis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Currency & Foreign Exchange.
Gallo also captains the No. 2 team in High-Yield Strategy, and Phelan helms the second-place squad in Manufacturing/General Industrials).
These researchers oversee troupes that finished third in 2014:
* Gareth Davies and Flavio Rusconi of J.P. Morgan, Asset-Backed Securities Strategy; and
* Thomas Gibney and Navann Ty of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, High-Yield Retailing/Consumer Products.
Ty also leads the No. 2 team in Basic Materials.
And these direct crews that vault from runner-up:
* Claire Poncet Dumont of Crédit Agricole Corporate Investment Bank, Investment-Grade Retailing/Consumer Products; and
* Damien de Saint Germain, also of Crédit Agricole Corporate Investment Bank, Utilities.
The 2015 All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team reflects the opinions of more than 740 investment professionals at 366 buy-side institutions that collectively manage roughly $6.3 trillion in European fixed-income assets.
The survey’s 18 sectors are grouped under three headings: Economics & Strategy, High Yield and Investment Grade. When results in each category are viewed independently, BofA Merrill and J.P. Morgan share the top spot in Economics & Strategy, while Barclays and Deutsche Bank join those firms in a four-way tie for first place in High-Yield. Barclays is on top in Investment Grade.
The navigation table at right includes links that lead to tables showing firms ranked by total number of positions overall and by their totals in each grouping (Economics & Strategy, High Yield and Investment Grade). Each of these leaders tables includes a companion roster showing how the firms fare when their results are weighted by ranked positions earned.
Click on the Best Analysts of the Year to view the teams in first, second and third places. Also available at that link is a list of runners-up in each sector (where applicable). Please note: Information about crews in the second and third positions, and runners-up, is available to subscribers only.
For more information about how this ranking was compiled, click on Methodology.
Picking the Team
To select the members of the fifth annual All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team, Institutional Investor sent questionnaires to bond and credit specialists at leading money management firms around the world. We received responses from more than 740 investment professionals at 366 buy-side institutions that collectively manage an estimated $6.3 trillion in European fixed-income assets.
Respondents vote for individual analysts or 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 place awarded (first, second, third or fourth) to the firm or individual. A team is designated runner-up when its score falls within 35 percent of the third-teamer’s score.
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.
This year’s survey produced complete publishable results (first through third place) in 18 of the 20 polled sectors. Two Investment-Grade sectors — Basic Materials and Technology, Media & Telecommunications — did not garner sufficient support to yield any teams.
The analyst recognized as the leader of each winning group is either the individual designated as team leader by the firm or the one 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 U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority are eligible to be recognized as team leaders. No such restriction applies to team leaders in Economics & Strategy. Analysts who switched firms after October 24, 2014, are cited at their previous organizations.
The 2015 All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team ranking was compiled by Associate Research Editor Denise Hoguet with assistance from Researchers Denise Best, Amy Kong and Jillian Michalek, under the direction of Tucker Ewing, Senior Research Editor, and Thomas W. Johnson, Director of Research.
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