Top of the pile this year is RBS, coming first in investment grade and high yield, and second in trade ideas. The Scottish bank was ninth overall last year, and has risen several places in every category in the poll with the exception of ABS trade ideas and online trading analytics, maintaining last year’s position in both cases. This impressive performance caps a six-year building process for RBS’s research team, which began when Symon Drake-Brockman became head of debt markets in 2001.