For a second straight year, portfolio managers credit VTB Capital with producing the best investment research on Russia. But the accolades don’t end there. They also say its sales force outperforms all others when it comes to serving the needs of clients that invest in Russia and that its trading services are of a higher quality than its peers’.
This year, for the first time, Institutional Investor asked participants in the All-Russia Research Team survey not only to tell us which individuals provide the best company coverage and macroeconomic analysis, but also which firms have the most helpful sales teams and which offer the most valuable trading services. VTB Capital ranks first every time and is the undisputed champion of the 2012 All-Russia Research Team,All-Russia Sales Teamand All-Russia Trading Team.
The upper echelon of the research ranking is a virtual repeat of last year’s results, with VTB Capital again winning 14 total team positions to second-place Troika Dialog’s 12. Deutsche Bank holds steady in third despite a loss of two positions, to seven — the German bank is the only firm among the top four to see a change in its team-position total. Renaissance Capital returns in fourth place, with five positions.
This pattern — VTB Capital in first place, Troika in second, Deutsche Bank in third and RenCap in fourth — not only is unchanged from last year, but also holds steady across the three rankings this year. It’s only at the No. 5 spot that the rankings diverge — and do they ever. Citi places fifth in research (up from No. 8 last year), Bank of America Merrill Lynch is No. 5 in sales, and Credit Suisse is fifth in trading services.
The 2012 All-Russia Research Team is based on responses from 465 buy-side analysts and money managers at some 315 asset management firms worldwide overseeing an estimated $200 billion in Russian equity and fixed-income assets. Roughly 83 percent of these buy-siders expressed their opinions on the top sales teams, and 67 percent weighed in on trading services.
Click one of the following links for complete results of this year’s All-Russia Research Team, All-Russia Sales Team and All-Russia Trading Team.