Citi and Morgan Stanley tie for first place in the 26th annual All-Asia Research Team.
The 2019 ranking of research firms — which for the first time weighted voters’ responses by their equity commissions — also saw UBS rank as the No. 3 firm, while Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse took fourth and fifth place, respectively.
The survey included some 5,300 investment professionals at more than 1,300 institutions with major securities holdings in the region, who voted for the top providers across 34 industry sectors and regions.
As part of this year’s survey, three additional leaderboards were produced which ranked firms based on their individual equity analysts and weighted survey responses based on assets under management. In each of these rankings, Citi remained at the top, with Morgan Stanley either tying for first or placing second.
To select the members of our 26th annual All-Asia Research Team, Institutional Investor solicited the opinions of portfolio managers and analysts at institutions with major securities holdings in Asia (ex-Japan). We received responses from some 5,300 investment professionals at over 1,300 institutions.
Participants first rated their top firms in each sector on a scale from 1-5, and then separately rated individual analysts or economists/strategists at those firms to create two distinct results for each sector. A numerical score was produced by weighting each vote based on both the respondent’s Asia ex-Japan equity commissions and their average rating.
The same scores were weighted by each voting firm’s Asian ex-Japan equity assets under management to produce the AUM-weighted rankings.
Using those scores, ranks were then determined. Firms/analysts were designated runners‐up when their scores came within 35 percent of the third-place scores.
The individuals surveyed are kept confidential to ensure continuing cooperation. Voters must meet eligibility requirements, and winners must achieve a minimum vote count.