 Awards for Excellence 2010 |
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| Best Global high-yield debt house: Bank of America Merrill Lynch | |
| Also nominated: Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley |
Nowhere in the capital markets has the confluence of record low interest rates and a return of risk appetite had a more dramatic impact than in the high-yield bond market. Investor demand for high-yield paper in the second half of 2009 and first quarter of 2010 drove this market to record activity on both sides of the Atlantic. The combined franchises of Bank of America and Merrill Lynch have proved a formidable force in this market over the past 12 months, building market share and enjoying a nearly continuous 12-month run of market gains. BAML topped the league tables for the first quarter of 2010 with a 24.8% share and the bank was the left bookrunner on one in every three deals that closed in March – a month in which $45 billion of business in high yield was done.
But it takes brains as well as brawn to keep ahead of the pack in a market as competitive as this one.