Merrill Lynch

Manager: Stan O'Neal
Age: 55
Appointed: 2002
Value added: 23.7% pa (6th)
Chop rating: 1/5

O’Neal is the man who rescued Merrill Lynch from its dark days at the turn of the century, and his job is safe in the medium term. But will shareholders start to protest if its share price continues to lag behind the likes of Lehman and Goldman?

Star players:
Andrea Orcel. The man who made Merrill a force in the European M&A business. Stan’s a huge fan and may want to build his team of the future round Orcel

Rising star: Osman Semerci. Still in his 30s, Semerci has been given responsibility for all of Merrill’s global markets business – and even persuaded his bosses to let him continue to be based in London

Weakest link: Trading. Whether it’s in fixed income or foreign exchange, word on the street is that Merrill lags behind its competitors on the trading front

Key transfers 2006:

IN: Nick Chavdarov (head of emerging markets structured credit, from Deutsche Bank); Jeffrey Culpepper (head of global markets and investment banking for the Middle East and North Africa, from Deutsche Bank); Jon Pratt (head of debt capital markets, Asia-Pacific, from Credit Suisse)

OUT: Andrew Chulak (head of M&A for CEMA, to Deutsche Bank); Harry Lengsfield (head of interest rate products and foreign exchange); Doug De Martin (head of equity and debt sales); Jeff Kronthal (head of principal investments)

2006 capital markets performance (▼/▲ 2005)

Overall fees: $3,757mln (+26.1%)