Ranking BB Equity Research

Yes, I know... another rankings thread (monkey shit me if you must, but I genuinely think this can add value for people), but I noticed there hasn't been much discussion at any point recently of the relative strength of the research departments at bulge brackets. I know it would be helpful those of us who are interested in ER and looking at the brand-name banks how people perceive the the BB research divisions in relation to each other, and specifically their U.S. operations (this includes quality of analysts, quality of reports, brand name on the street, exit opps, etc.). I know there's Institutional Investor which ranks research, but I'd love to hear what WSO thinks.

If I had to take a stab myself (and by no means should this be taken as gospel), this is how I'd rank them: Tier 1: MS, JPM, BAML Tier 2: Barclays, UBS, DB Tier 3: GS, CS, Citi

I could try and do a 1-9 ranking but I find tiers are generally a better way to go about these types of analyses. Would love to hear others' thoughts, especially from those who have been in the industry.

30 Comments
 

Even if your firm has an overall top tier group of analysts...it ultimately still comes down to who you're working for and what sector you're in...you can have #1 II ranked analyst from none of the above...i.e., Mark Schoenbaum from Evercore ISI.

For those interested in research, if you're breaking in, I suggest you work with some you can learn from and gain skills and solid knowledge base, rather than just go straight for a BB bank and perhaps work for some sh*tty analyst who just values you as a monkey and that's it; however, there are rare exceptions of finding a solid analyst at a BB that's willing to nurture you into a future analyst. Just my 2c.

 
Even if your firm has an overall top tier group of analysts...it ultimately still comes down to who you're working for and what sector you're in...you can have #1 II ranked analyst from none of the above...i.e., Mark Schoenbaum from Evercore ISI

Ding ding ding. These types of rankings are always ridiculous. Ever BB and reputable boutique will have very good analysts and some not-so-great analysts. It really is impossible to generalize. My firm uses dozens of brokers for this very reason. A firm can be quite strong in one region or industry and terrible in another.

 

i don't think they come out until october? but i could be. on the ii website you can get the overall firm rankings but not individual industries unfortunately...

 

We just get reviewed by our Associate Director/MD after he collects input from our Senior Analysts. Maybe later on Sales has a say and so on, but not in my first year.

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