This year's fixed income research poll received more votes than ever before. With 435 individual investor respondents, the poll is not only the region's longest running fixed income research poll, but also the most definitive.
This year the poll saw a new victor. Citigroup finally takes the top spot. The bank won four individual categories and using our methodology of aggregating scores from the six categories to get an 'overall' winner, Citigroup beat out last year's winner, UBS. With a total score of 878 votes (Note: voters could vote for their 3 preferred houses in each of the six categories), Citigroup's team scored well across the board. UBS came in a close second, and JPMorgan moved up to third (from 5th last year).
Citigroup's team of Don Hanna (economics), Ivan Lee (head of credit research), Johanna Chua (sovereigns) and So-Yon Sohn (banks) have been together for several years now and the continuity and quality of their research is obviously reflected in their strong showing in the poll this year.
UBS retains a very strong showing, however. Its fixed income research head, Stephen Cheng was still overwhelmingly voted the best analyst, and the firm won the Best in Investment Grade Credit Research category. UBS was second in three categories. It was just pipped at the post in the Best in High Yield/ Distressed Credit category by ING, which retained the top position from last year.
S&P also retained the top spot as the "most influential" credit rating agency.
The results below show the top 15 banks overall and the winners of individual categories. For the full results, complete with investor feedback on the best analyst calls of 2003 and the winner of the 'most professional' borrowers categories, please see the forthcoming November issue of FinanceAsia magazine.
Overall ranking - Asia's Best Fixed Income Research Houses
| Votes | Rank last year | ||
| 1 | Citigroup | 878 |
3
|
| 2 | UBS | 772 |
1
|
| 3 | JPMorgan | 689 |
5
|
| 4 | Deutsche | 602 |
6
|
| 5 | ING | 570 |
2
|
| 6 | HSBC | 491 |
4
|
| 7 | CSFB | 371 |
7
|
| 8 | Barclays Capital | 264 |
11
|
| 9 | Goldman Sachs | 254 |
9
|
| 10 | Merrill Lynch | 245 |
8
|
| 11 | Morgan Stanley | 242 |
10
|
| 12 | ABN AMRO | 183 |
12
|
| 13 | Lehman Brothers | 108 |
13
|
| 14 | Standard Chartered | 85 |
New entry
|
| 15 | BNP Paribas | 79 |
14
|
Best in Asian Investment Grade Credit Research
| Votes | ||
| 1 | UBS | 138 |
| 2 | JPMorgan | 134 |
| 3 | Citigroup | 130 |
| 4 | Deutsche | 107 |
| 5 | HSBC | 102 |
Best in Asian High Yield and Distressed Credit Research
| Votes | ||
| 1 | ING | 128 |
| 2 | UBS | 126 |
| 3 | Citigroup | 116 |
| 4 | CSFB | 86 |
| 4 | Deutsche | 86 |
Best in Asian Regional Macroeconomic Research
| Votes | ||
| 1 | Citigroup | 152 |
| 2 | JPMorgan | 137 |
| 3 | UBS | 130 |
| 4 | Deutsche | 119 |
| 5 | HSBC | 97 |
Best in Asian Bank and Financial Sector Credit Research
| Votes | ||
| 1 | Citigroup | 158 |
| 2 | UBS | 138 |
| 3 | JPMorgan | 114 |
| 4 | ING | 108 |
| 5 | HSBC | 88 |
Best Research on Asian Sovereign Credits
| Votes | ||
| 1 | Citigroup | 180 |
| 2 | JPMorgan | 117 |
| 3 | UBS | 110 |
| 4 | Deutsche | 96 |
| 5 | HSBC | 90 |
Best on Asian Fixed Income and Credit Strategy
| Votes | ||
| 1 | Citigroup | 142 |
| 2 | UBS | 130 |
| 3 | JPMorgan | 114 |
| 4 | Deutsche | 109 |
| 5 | ING | 92 |
Name the international credit rating agency whose research and rating actions most strongly influence your investment decisions in Asia.
| Votes | ||
| 1 | S&P | 248 |
| 2 | Moody's | 172 |
| 3 | Fitch | 15 |
Best analyst:
| Stephen Cheng, UBS (52 votes) |
Total number of voters who participated in the poll
| 435 |
