BTG Pactual and Itaú BBA, the No. 1 and No. 2 firms, respectively, on the 2012 All-Brazil Research Team, finish in the same places on Institutional Investor’s inaugural All-Brazil Trading Team. Credit Suisse comes in third in this new ranking, followed by J.P. Morgan and Bank of America Merrill Lynch at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
To select the members of this crew, we invited participants in the broader research team survey to name up to four firms that they feel provide the best trading services in the country. We received responses from approximately 390 buy-side analysts and money managers at some 260 institutions that collectively manage an estimated $227.2 billion in Brazilian equities. Roughly 56 percent of the people who cast votes in the research team survey, representing 76 percent of the participating buy-side institutions, answered our question about trading services.
Rodrigo Góes, BTG Pactual’s head of research, sales and trading, says the firm has made “considerable investments” in its trading operations over the past year, including “hiring more senior people for our local trading desk” in São Paulo.
“We are now satisfied with the composition and seniority of our desk, and are concentrating the bulk of our resources in technology — aiming to create a seamless platform linking our broker-dealers across the different markets where we operate,” says Góes. BTG Pactual has trading operations not only in Brazil, but also in Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, the U.K. and the U.S.
“Clients require a wide range of services,” he adds. “They tend to be particularly appreciative and pay for facilitation in illiquid names and block trades, in addition to quality execution — which is simply expected nowadays.”