Five years ago, US banks ruled the roost when it came to European credit research. They won 8 out of 12 investment-grade and high-yield sectors in 2001's credit research poll. In 2002, when Euromoney began weighting votes by funds under management, US banks won all 16 categories in the poll. Morgan Stanley reigned supreme in investment-grade, Merrill Lynch in high-yield and indices. In five categories, US banks swept the first, second, and third spots.
But the days when US banks ruled the roost for European credit research are over. After its coup in 2004's poll, BNP Paribas has maintained its lead in the overall investment-grade categories in 2005, and Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has moved up to second place, knocking the likes of Citigroup and Morgan Stanley into also-ran status. There were 10 banks which had a higher overall investment-grade ranking in 2005 than in 2004; eight of those are European. Of the seven who dropped, five are based in the US.
US banks still dominate high yield
The US banks are hardly out of the picture, though.