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2016
Research

The All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team

Ranking Overview Methodology

J.P. Morgan Extends All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team Winning Streak to a Sixth Year

J.P. Morgan captures first place on Institutional Investor’s All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team for a sixth consecutive year, but this victory must be especially sweet. Last year the firm claimed five fewer positions than it won in 2014 (forcing it to share the winner’s circle with rival Bank of America Merrill Lynch, with 14 spots apiece), but it regains all the ground it lost and then some, for a 2016 total of 20 positions.

BofA Merrill slips to second place even though its team total rises to 17. Barclays and Deutsche Bank repeat at No. 3 with 11 spots each, while Citi’s gain of one position, to five, propels it from seventh place to tie for fifth with Royal Bank of Scotland.

Twelve firms appear on this year’s roster. Click on the Leaders link in the navigation table at right to view the full list.

The survey’s 21 sectors are grouped under three broad areas of coverage: 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 the latter firm is No. 1 in both High Yield and 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.

A total of 78 individuals are cited on this year’s team, which is limited to the top three analysts or squads in each sector, plus runners-up where applicable. The full report features more than 320 analysts representing 22 entities who met minimum-vote and other eligibility criteria. (Data regarding analysts and firms not appearing here are available from the Institutional Investor Research Group; for information please contact Esther Weisz at 212-224-3307 or eweisz@iiresearchgroup.com.)

Navann Ty leads or co-leads the highest number of winning teams. The BofA Merrill analyst guides the crew in first place in Health Care and co-directs those at No. 1 in Basic Materials (HY), with Emmanuel Owusu-Darkwa, and Retailing/Consumer Products (HY), with Thomas Gibney. She also directs the No. 2 team in Basic Materials (IG).

Other researchers who oversee more than one sector-topping team:

  • Christophe Boulanger of Barclays:
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (High Yield); solo leader
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (Investment Grade); co-captain with Darren Hook
  • Darren Hook of Barclays:
    • Basic Materials (IG); co-director with Margaret O’Neal van Loon
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (IG); co-leader with Christophe Boulanger
    • also co-manages, with O’Neal van Loon, a runner-up squad in Basic Materials (HY)
  • James Reid of Deutsche Bank:
    • Fixed-Income Strategy; co-head with Francis Yared
    • High-Yield Strategy; solo leader
    • also guides the No. 2 team in Investment-Grade Strategy

Other analysts who oversee teams that rank in multiple sectors are:

  • Ioannis Angelakis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch:
    • Credit Derivatives, second place, with co-director Barnaby Martin
    • Investment-Grade Strategy, third place, with co-director Barnaby Martin
    • High-Yield Strategy, with co-director Barnaby Martin
  • Robert Buhr of Société Générale:
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (IG), second place
    • Basic Materials (IG), third place
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (HY), runner-up
  • Benjamin Defay of J.P. Morgan:
    • Basic Materials (HY), third place, co-leader with Stephanie Vincent
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (HY), third place, co-leader with Stephanie Vincent
    • Basic Materials (IG), runner-up, co-leader with Stephanie Vincent
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (IG), runner-up, co-leader with Stephanie Vincent
  • Saul Doctor of J.P. Morgan:
    • Credit Derivatives, first place, co-head with Rishad Ahluwalia
    • Quantitative Analysis, third place
  • Karine Elias of Barclays:
    • Retailing/Consumer Products (HY), second place
    • Retailing/Consumer Products (IG), runner-up
  • Alberto Gallo of Royal Bank of Scotland:
    • Investment-Grade Strategy, first place
    • Fixed-Income Strategy, second place, with co-director Andrew Roberts
    • High-Yield Strategy, second place
  • Stephan Haber of UniCredit:
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (IG), third place, with co-captain Sven Kreitmair
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (HY), runner-up, with co-captain Sven Kreitmair
  • Matthew King of Citi:
    • Credit Derivatives, third place
    • Investment-Grade Strategy, runner-up
  • Sven Kreitmair of UniCredit:
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (IG), third place, co-director with Stephan Haber
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (HY), runner-up, co-director with Stephan Haber
  • Barnaby Martin of Bank of America Merrill Lynch:
    • Credit Derivatives, second place, with co-head Ioannis Angelakis
    • Investment-Grade Strategy, third place, with co-head Ioannis Angelakis
    • Fixed-Income Strategy, runner-up
    • High-Yield Strategy, runner-up, with co-head Ioannis Angelakis
  • Richard Phelan of Deutsche Bank:
    • Basic Materials (HY), second place
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (HY), runner-up
  • Margaret O’Neal van Loon of Barclays:
    • Basic Materials (IG), first place, co-leader with Darren Hook
    • Basic Materials (HY), runner-up, co-leader with Darren Hook
  • Emmanuel Owusu-Darkwa of Bank of America Merrill Lynch:
    • Basic Materials (HY), first place, co-leader with Navann Ty
    • Utilities, third place
  • Daniel Rekrut of Barclays:
    • Technology, Media & Telecommunications (IG), first place
    • Technology, Media & Telecommunications (HY), third place
  • Andrew Roberts of Royal Bank of Scotland:
    • Interest Rate Strategy, first place Giles Gale
    • Fixed-Income Strategy, second place, co-leader with Alberto Gallo
  • Stephanie Vincent of J.P. Morgan:
    • Basic Materials (HY), third place, co-leader with Benjamin Defay
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (HY), third place, co-leader with Benjamin Defay
    • Basic Materials (IG), runner-up, co-leader with Benjamin Defay
    • Manufacturing/General Industrials (IG), runner-up, co-leader with Benjamin Defay
  • Andrew Webb of J.P. Morgan:
    • Technology, Media & Telecommunications (HY), first place
    • Technology, Media & Telecommunications (IG), third place, with co-leader Constantin Wolf
  • Francis Yared of Deutsche Bank:
    • Fixed-Income Strategy, first place, with co-chief James Reid
    • Interest Rate Strategy, second place

Analysts and team leaders making their first appearances in first place:

  • Alexander Batchvarov & team, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Asset-Backed Securities Strategy
  • Philip Galdi, Alberto Ruiz-Sena & team, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Bond Markets Indexes
  • Caio Natividade & team, Deutsche Bank, Quantitative Analysis
  • Emmanuel Owusu-Darkwa, Navann Ty & team, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Basic Materials (High Yield)
  • Hans-Guenter Redeker & team, Morgan Stanley, Currency & Foreign Exchange
  • Navann Ty & team, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, High-Yield Health Care (sector newly added this year)
  • Daniel Vaun & team, J.P. Morgan, Utilities

Analysts cited on the All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team for the first time:

  • Benjamin Defay of J.P. Morgan, Basic Materials (HY and IG), third place and runner-up, respectively; and Manufacturing/General Industrials (HY and IG), third place and runner-up, respectively (with co-leader Stephanie Vincent)
  • Simon Cowie of Société Générale, Retailing/Consumer Products (IG), runner-up
  • Axel Finsterbusch of J.P. Morgan, Banking & Financial Services, second place (co-leader with Antonio Roberto Henriques)
  • Giles Gale of Royal Bank of Scotland, Interest Rate Strategy, first place (co-leader with Andrew Roberts)
  • Nicholas Gendron of Barclays, Bond Market Indexes, second place (co-leader with Lee Phillips)
  • Stephan Haber of UniCredit, Manufacturing/General Industrials (HY and IG), runner-up and third place, respectively (co-leader with Sven Kreitmair)
  • Nicolas Hue de la Colombe of Crédit Agricole Corporate Investment Bank, Manufacturing/General Industrials (IG), runner-up
  • Nazli Ela Kurtoglu of J.P. Morgan, Retailing/Consumer Products (IG), second place
  • Margaret O’Neal van Loon of Barclays, Basic Materials (HY and IG), runner-up and first place, respectively (co-leader with Darren Hook)
  • Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou of J.P. Morgan, Fixed-Income Strategy, third place (co-leader with Stephen Dulake)
  • Hugh (Huw) Pill of Goldman Sachs International, Economics, runner-up
  • Alan Ruskin of Deutsche Bank, Currency & Foreign Exchange, runner-up (co-leader with Georgios Saravelos)
  • Georgios Saravelos of Deutsche Bank, Currency & Foreign Exchange, runner-up (co-leader with Alan Ruskin)
  • Benedict Scholl of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Retailing/Consumer Products (IG), third place
  • David Strauch of Crédit Agricole Corporate Investment Bank; Technology, Media & Telecommunications (IG); runner-up
  • Danielle Ward of J.P. Morgan, Health Care, second place
  • Constantin Wolf of J.P. Morgan; Technology, Media & Telecommunications (IG); third place (co-leader with Andrew Webb)

Survey results reflect the opinions of more than 750 investment professionals at nearly 375 buy-side institutions that collectively manage an estimated $6.4 trillion in European fixed-income assets.

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 sixth 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 750 investment professionals at 373 buy-side institutions that collectively manage an estimated $6.4 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 we added three sectors: Health Care, in both High Yield and Investment Grade, and Covered Bonds & Agencies. The All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team survey produced complete publishable results (first through third place) in 21 of the 23 polled sectors. Neither Health Care (Investment Grade) nor Covered Bonds & Agencies garnered 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 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 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 23, 2015, are cited at their previous organizations.

The 2016 All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team ranking was compiled by Associate Research Editor Denise Hoguet, along with Senior Research Editor Tucker Ewing, and Researchers Denise Best, Amy Kong and Xiao Liulu under the guidance of Thomas W. Johnson, Director of Research.

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