High-yield deals underwritten by Bear Stearns performed better in the secondary market than sales from any other dealer in the last four quarters, according to a study from independent research outfit FridsonVision. At the other end of the spectrum are deals from Wachovia Securities, which landed in the 13th slot among dealers.
Marty Fridson, ceo of FridsonVision, said a deal's performance in its first week reflects the quality of the book its underwriters built, while the results for a deal's first month in the secondary market are more likely to reflect broader credit concerns.
Bear Stearns' deals tightened by an average of 19 basis points in the their first week and 27.7bps in their first month, according to the study. Of course, Bear Stearns only lead-managed 3.1% of issuance over the last year. Deutsche Bank came in second, with an average 18.6bps of tightening over the month following issuance. Wachovia's deals, meanwhile, exhibited 3bps of tightening over one week and 8.5bps of widening in the month following issuance.
Citigroup, which led the most deals, came in ninth with its deals tightening by an average of 7.6bps in their first week, while Credit Suisse First Boston's deals narrowed by 6.7bps in that span. On the whole, the average deal tightened by 9.5bps, from 10.4bps in the previous quarter.
