What do investors expect from a full-service brokerage? Three attributes spring to mind: top-notch research, a supportive sales effort and state-of-the-art trading operations. To find out which firm claims the distinction of being Asia’s Best Brokerage, Institutional Investor tallied the scores of those outfits that met minimum-vote and other eligibility requirements in all three of our 2012 Asia ex-Japan surveys: the All-Asia Research Team, the All-Asia Sales Team and the All-Asia Trading Team.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch leads the lineup, finishing first in research (for a second consecutive year) and in sales, and second in quality of trading services, behind UBS. The Swiss bank is No. 2 on our list of Asia’s Best Brokerages after tying for fourth place (with Deutsche Bank) in research and taking second in sales. Morgan Stanley — which takes sixth in research, fourth in sales and third in trading — wins the No. 3 spot. When these aggregated totals are further screened by the country in which each firm is headquartered, China International Capital Corp. wins the title of China’s Best Brokerage; CIMB Securities, Malaysia’s Best Brokerage; Macquarie Capital Securities, Australia/New Zealand’s Best Brokerage; and Samsung Securities, South Korea’s Best Brokerage. For the purposes of this ranking, global banks headquartered outside Asia ex-Japan are considered domiciled in the country in which their primary Asian operations are based.