J.P. Morgan Celebrates Sixth Straight Year Atop All-America Fixed-Income Research Team
J.P. Morgan leads the All-America Fixed-Income Research Team for a sixth year running, its analysts earning a place in 49 of the 57 sectors that produced publishable results. That’s an increase of one over last year’s total.
In second place for a fourth straight year is Bank of America Merrill Lynch, whose total jumps by four, for a firm record of 45. Wells Fargo Securities rises one rung to No. 3, even though its total is unchanged at 28. Its advance is propelled by losses at Barclays, which slips to fourth place after losing five spots, leaving it with 25. Goldman, Sachs & Co. repeats at No. 5 despite the loss of four positions, reducing its total to 20.
Fourteen firms appear on this year’s roster. Click on the Leaders link in the navigation table at right to view the full list.
Survey results reflect the opinions of more than 2,090 portfolio managers and buy-side analysts at some 540 institutions that oversee an estimated $9.6 trillion in U.S. fixed-income assets.
The sectors are grouped into three broad areas of coverage: Economics & Strategy, High Yield and Investment Grade. When the results of each category are viewed independently, BofA Merrill and J.P. Morgan share top honors in Economics & Strategy. The latter firm is No. 1 in High Yield, while Wells Fargo leads the lineup in Investment Grade.
As he did last year, Brian Ye leads or co-leads the highest number of winning teams. The J.P. Morgan strategist guides the crew in first place in Prepayments Strategy and co-directs those at No. 1 in Agency-Structured Products Strategy (with Nicholas Maciunas) and Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Strategy/Agency (with Matthew Jozoff).
Other researchers with multiple appearances in first place are:
* David Ader and Ian Lyngen of CRT Capital Group, on top in Technical Analysis and U.S. Governments Strategy (as well as runners-up in Fixed-Income Strategy);
* Eric Beinstein of J.P. Morgan, captain of the crews at No. 1 in Credit Derivatives (with Dominique Toublan) and Investment-Grade Strategy;
* Ana Goshko of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, deemed the best at covering two High-Yield sectors, Technology and Telecommunications Services;
* Matthew Jozoff of J.P. Morgan, who co-leads the winning troupes in Fixed-Income Strategy (with Alex Roever) and Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Strategy/Agency (with Brian Ye);
* Douglas Karson of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the champion in Autos & Auto Parts (High Yield) and Manufacturing (Investment Grade). He also ranks in two additional Investment-Grade sectors, Aerospace & Defense (second place) and Transportation (runner-up);
* Harry Mateer of Barclays, rated highest in two Investment-Grade categories: Basic Industries and Energy;
* Peter Quinn of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, in the winners circle for coverage of both High-Yield and Investment-Grade aspects of Electric Utilities;
* Alex Roever of J.P. Morgan, co-leader of top-ranked teams in Fixed-Income Strategy (with Matthew Jozoff) and Short-Duration Strategy (with Teresa Ho);
* J. Nicole Black Skinner of Wells Fargo Securities, who outperforms the competition in two Investment-Grade sectors, Media & Entertainment and Telecommunications Services, and captures second place in a third, Technology;
* Roger Spitz of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, the top-ranked researcher in two High-Yield sectors, Chemicals and Paper & Packaging;
* Mark Streeter of J.P. Morgan, No. 1 for reporting on both High-Yield and Investment-Grade names in Transportation. He also captures second place in Real Estate Investment Trusts.
Christopher Flanagan, head of U.S. mortgages and structured products at BofA Merrill, is the analyst whose name appears most often in these results; he co-directs six squads. With Ryan Asato, Flanagan oversees crews that earn a runner-up position in Collateralized Loan Obligations and third place in Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Strategy/Nonagency; with Satish Mansukhani he helms teams that capture second place in Agency-Structured Products Strategy and runner-up positions in Prepayments Strategy and Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Strategy/Agency; and with Priya Misra he pilots the group at No. 2 in Fixed-Income Strategy.
Misra, who left the firm in late June, is credited with co-leading four other teams: one in first place, Federal Agency Debt Strategy (with Ralph Axel); one in second, Short-Duration Strategy (with Brian Smedley); one in third, Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (with Shyam Soundararajan); and a runner-up crew in U.S. Governments Strategy (also with Soundararajan).
In addition to BofA Merrill’s Karson, whose successes are noted above, these two analysts rank in four sectors apiece:
* James Dunn of Wells Fargo Securities is No. 2 in Basic Industries and Transportation and No. 3 in Aerospace & Defense and Manufacturing, all in Investment Grade.
* Brian Jacoby of Goldman, Sachs & Co. appears in three Investment-Grade sectors: Aerospace & Defense (first place), Manufacturing (second place) and Transportation (third place); and one High-Yield category: Autos & Auto Parts (third place).
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 category (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, with a rating of 4 assigned to each first-place team, 3 to each second-place team, 2 to each third-place team, and 1 to each runner-up team.
To view the top-ranked analysts and teams in each sector, click on the Best Analysts of the Year. Information about those that rank second, third and runner-up is available to subscribers only.
To learn more about how this ranking was compiled, click on Methodology.
Picking the Team
To select the members of the 24th annual All-America Fixed-Income Research Team, Institutional Investor sent questionnaires to bond and credit specialists at leading asset management firms around the world. We received responses from more than 2,090 portfolio managers and buy-side analysts at some 540 institutions that oversee an estimated $9.6 trillion in U.S. fixed-income assets.
In High Yield and Investment Grade sectors, respondents vote for individual analysts. In Economics & Strategy categories, they may vote for an individual or for a firm’s entire team; these votes are combined for firms in each sector.
A numerical score is produced for each qualifying entity by weighting each vote based on the fund manager’s U.S. fixed-income assets under management and on the rank awarded (first, second, third or fourth). Analysts or teams are designated runners-up when their scores fall within 35 percent of the third-teamer’s score.
Research directors indicate which analysts oversee coverage of a particular sector, and individuals cited as team leaders may not necessarily be the ones who receive the most votes on behalf of that firm. Co-leaders, where applicable, are deemed to share equal responsibility for directing coverage, and their names are presented alphabetically. Analysts who switched firms after May 8, 2015, are cited at their previous organizations.
Analysts must be certified pursuant to Regulation AC to be recognized in the High-Yield and Investment-Grade research categories. No such restriction applies in Economics & Strategy sectors.
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.
We polled 19 high-yield and 16 investment-grade research sectors, all of which field complete teams (first through third places). We made one change to the ballot, revising Services to include auto and equipment rentals, payment services, etc.
In Economics & Strategy we asked about 23 sectors. Distressed does not garner sufficient votes for publication; Federal Agency Debt Strategies produces first and second teams only.
The 2015 All-America Fixed-Income Research Team was compiled by Associate Research Editor Denise Hoguet, with the assistance of Researchers Amy Kong and Xiao Liulu, under the direction of Senior Research Editor Tucker Ewing and Thomas W. Johnson, Director of Research.