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The US subprime crisis bears many similarities to East Asia’s financial meltdown a decade ago. But the divergent response to both shows up the hypocrisy of rich countries and the Washington multilaterals alike, argue Homi Kharas and Johannes Linn
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Barclays Capital, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have made the shortlist for Global Derivatives House Of The Year in DW's fourth annual awards.
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The editorial staff of Derivatives Week have again been zeroing in on the buyside and sellside players who have excelled over the last year during a time of obvious market upheaval. -
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Credit Suisse Credit Suisse has attracted attention this year for its equity trading effort, particularly from hedge funds, which report that the firm has beefed up its offering of exotic equity instruments. Lead by co-head of the European equities department Simon Yates in London, portfolio managers said the firm can be relied upon to quickly price and execute complex trades and is at the forefront of structuring new instruments designed to trade equity skew. Among other structures, for example, Credit Suisse has created a trade that it refers to as geometric variance dispersion, which avoids illiquidity and other problems associated with traditional dispersion trading.
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BlueMountain Capital Management In bracing market conditions for equity, Andrew Feldstein and his team at BlueMountain stood as being active in unwinding positions to free up capital and take profits. "Smart," was the observation of one player. "They did it at the right time." The New York-based firm, co-founded in 2003 by Feldstein who is cio and ceo, has some USD4.8 billion in assets.
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Barclays Capital A perennial favorite in this market, the team headed by Richard Ho again wins plaudits from observers. Over the past year, the firm has focused on providing structuring for distributors, insurance companies and provided mutual fund-linked notes in the U.S. retail market. It has also ramped up activity in emerging markets. Barclays lunched its Alpha-Supported Private Equity Note, or ASPEN, in 2007, the first-ever globally syndicated private equity fund-linked note transaction. This year, the firm has launched ASPEN Asia and ASPEN energy notes. It also introduced its Shariah-compliant hedge fund platform, Al-Safi.
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Allen & Overy A&O is known for its work with regulatory and industry bodies--specifically its close association with the International Swaps and Derivatives Association, to which the firm is primary external counsel, and Hong Kong's Financial Supervisory Authority. A&O's global presence and comprehensive global coverage also put the firm in a winning position among its peers, market participants said. One investor pointed to the firm's Asia market knowledge as one of its strongest points. Hong Kong-based partners Paul Cluley and Thomas Jones were singled out for having their finger on the pulse of what's going on in Asia. "They are more knowledgeable of the transactions going on than their counterparts," one structurer said. London-based partners Simon Haddock and Ed Murray are also cited.
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Based on their performance across all categories the following firms have been shortlisted for Global Derivatives House Of The Year.
