For the second year in a row, UBS leads Institutional Investor's 34th annual ranking of Europe's top research teams.
More than 1,900 directors of research and heads of investment from institutions managing a combined $4 trillion in European equities judged equity research providers across 44 countries and sectors for the 2019 All-Europe Research Team. Votes were weighted based on a respondent's assets under management and combined in each sector to form a firm's team ranking.
Citi had the most pronounced improvement, rising from sixth place to finish second this year. The bank also doubled its number of ranked analyst teams from 20 to 40, only slightly trailing UBS's 43 team positions.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Merrill Lynch were each bumped back one spot to third and fourth place with 31 and 26 team positions, respectively. Exane BNP Paribas rounded out the top five, improving from seventh place last year.
In addition to the main team-based ranking, II produced three additional leaderboard results this year. For the second year, individual analysts who received the highest scores per sector were recognized in a separate roster. Citi took the top spot in the analyst-based ranking this year, followed by UBS in second and JPMorgan in third.
This year also marked the introduction of a new method of weighting votes to take into account the new reality of research budgets. In these two commission-based weightings, a respondent's vote was weighted not by their assets under management but by how much they spend on sell-side research.
UBS debuted at No. 1 in the commission-weighted ranking of analyst teams. Citi placed second, followed by JPMorgan in third. When the commission-weighted results were based on individual analyst scores, UBS placed first, followed by Citi and JPMorgan in a tie for second.
To determine the members of Institutional Investor's 34th annual 2019 All‐Europe Research Team, we sent questionnaires to the directors of research and heads of investment at institutions worldwide. We received responses from some 1,900 money managers at 865 institutions overseeing an estimated $4 trillion in European equities. The names of individuals surveyed are kept confidential to ensure their continuing cooperation.
For the team-based rankings, votes were combined for each firm to form a team in each sector. A numerical score was produced by weighting each vote based on both the respondent’s European equity assets under management and the place they awarded the brokerage firm (first, second, third or fourth). Ranks were determined using those scores.
The analyst rankings were produced using each individual's score. In both rankings, runners‐up are designated when scores come within 35 percent of the third place score. Individuals who switched firms after September 28, 2018 are cited at their previous organizations.
This year we have introduced additional leader tables for both the team and individual-based rankings produced by weighting with commission ranges instead of a firm's equity assets under management.
Voters must meet eligibility requirements, and winners must achieve a minimum vote count. In the industry sectors, only those analysts who publish independent research as defined by the Financial Conduct Authority are eligible to be recognized as team members. No such restriction applies to team members in Countries & Regions and Economics & Strategy. All ballots are subject to review by our Research Operations Group.
The 2019 All‐Europe Research Team survey produced complete publishable results (first‐, second‐and third‐place teams) in all 44 sectors polled.
This ranking was compiled by Senior Project Managers Tucker Ewing and Denise Hoguet, along with Associate Project Managers Denise Best, Amy Kong, and Xiao Lu.