Bank of America Merrill Lynch rises one rung to finish on top of Institutional Investor’s All-Europe Sales Team for the first time in the five-year history of the survey. Morgan Stanley rockets from second place to fifth; while last year’s winner, Deutsche Bank, falls to No. 3. J.P. Morgan Cazenove and UBS finish in fourth and fifth place, respectively; each is down a notch from last year.
“I like the Bank of America Merrill Lynch sales team because they are always fast and efficient at getting things organized and putting me in touch with the right people,” says one Dublin-based money manager. “They’re also great at problem-solving.”
Unless instructed otherwise, II keeps confidential the identities of survey participants and their firms to ensure their continuing cooperation.
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Some respondents single out specific individuals for special recognition. Among the comments we heard:
• Jonathan Cumby is “hands down the best idea generator.”
• “Paul Rogers is the specialist salesperson in oil and gas and utilities for Europe. His experience and ability to see across both sides of the energy divide give him exceptional insight.”
• “Joanna Sanders gives excellent insight into markets and is never afraid to give an anticonsensus call. She brings together information very well from investors and has a very good feel for which ideas to really push. Very helpful with requests, and the go-to person in volatile markets to get a real perspective.”
The sales force at the No. 2 firm, Morgan Stanley, garners similar praise from clients. “First, they have a great product to work with,” says one. “The energy guy, [Martinus] Martijn Rats, has been consistently levelheaded in an oil sector gone mad. Second, experience counts. James Cartwright, the energy salesperson, has seen a number of cycles before and so knows what happened last time and how sentiment always oscillates — and because he and the team know everyone in the market, he is able to give great feedback on market sentiment and positioning, which is extremely helpful in working out what’s priced into stocks.”
Other individuals mentioned for their exceptional service include:
• “Jelena Bjelanovic is very good at communicating the views of her analyst team while also adding a lot of market texture, as well as regularly updating clients about various events the team organizes.”
• “Martin Borghetto and Christoph Schmuck provide strong insights on the stocks mentioned [in the analysts’ reports] and also add their own views and comments. They know how to properly serve clients.”
• “Jonathan Haycock is smart and proactive. He has his own very sensible views and puts the best analysts in front of me.”
A fan of the sales force at the German financial services firm says he finds “particularly interesting some of the investment events held in London, such as Deutsche Bank’s [technology, media and telecommunications] conference, or the sales team’s insights into German small- and midcap equity markets. I would highlight the pan-European institutional sales coverage done by Luis Risco, a long-standing salesperson with a remarkable track record and market knowledge.”
A portfolio manager in Denmark is “particularly appreciative of Saraï Assouline’s efforts to bring companies’ executives to Copenhagen and her willingness to provide my team with one-on-ones and small group meetings. Copenhagen is a small investment community, and her many years of loyal service to our region stands out among more volatile research providers.”
Each year II invites participants in the broader All-Europe Research Team survey to name up to four firms that they feel have the best sales forces serving clients that invest in the region’s equities. We received responses from 1,560 buy-side analysts and money managers at 692 firms that collectively oversee approximately $5.4 trillion in European equity assets. Roughly 73 percent of the people who cast votes in the research team survey, representing 88 percent of the participating buy-side institutions, answered our question about the best sales teams.
To view the full list of winning groups, click on the Leaders link located in the navigation table on the right.
For information about how we compiled this ranking, click on Methodology.
