Barclays Capital
The U.K. firm has asserted its dominance over dividend swap trading this year and has built up its single-stock dividend swap offering. The hybrid structuring group run by Hassan Houari has also expanded and produced several eye-catching deals combining asset classes such as equity, rates and commodities with a wide variety of payoffs.
Citigroup
Citi received particular praise from hedge fund clients and asset managers in the City for Richard Mcguire's sales group. This year the firm has added instruments such as conditional variance swaps to its structured equity trading capabilities.
Deutsche Bank
| Tim Hart |
The German firm's flow sales team, under Tim Hart, is lauded by institutional investors and rivals alike. It has grown steadily this year and is offering increasingly exotic instruments--this summer it pipped rivals to the post with conditional outperformance options.
JPMorgan
In spite of another year marked by senior departures, the firm is cited by structured product buyers and rivals alike as one of the most original. The firm hit the headlines with a World Cup-linked equity note at the start of the year. It earned serious investor approval for seeking out new underlyings for investment products, in particular for offering attractive alternatives to standard commodity-linked notes.
SG Corporate & Investment Banking
| David Escoffier |
"They are the envy of the Street," summed up one structured equity salesman at a rival firm. The French house's army of financial engineers has ensured it is again ahead of rivals in exotic equity both for retail and for hedge fund clients. The firm has also expanded its base away from continental clients, this year making inroads in Scandinavia and the U.K, led by David Escoffier in London.
