JPMORGAN
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| David Long |
JPMorgan returns to the top this year after languishing somewhat following senior-level departures in recent years. That was partly on the back of reorganizing and hiring new talent. Most notably, David Long transferred to New York from Hong Kong to head equity derivatives in the U.S. and the firm nabbed Giles Rothwell from Barclays Capital as global head of structured investments distributor marketing. JPMorgan is recognized for use of its strong balance sheet to win over customers with non-recourse margin financing and warehousing transactions, as well as other equity derivative strategies. End users say the firm has reliably offered some of the best pricing across a wide range of flow and structured equity derivatives this year. For structured equity investors, the firm stands out for its fund-wrapping capabilities. This has been particularly important since some more traditional methods of wrapping equity derivative structures for retail have hit regulatory hurdles in the last year.
In Asia, the firm has made moves to overhaul its equity derivatives business this year, separating its flow and exotics desks to allow sales officials to specialize. It has also set up a new structuring team to focus on structuring in local currencies, rather than using products put together in London. This has been backed up by a 70% increase in headcount in the region.
Other Nominees:
* Barclays Capital * Lehman Brothers
* Deutsche Bank * Morgan Stanley
