UBS provides the best Investor Relations (IR) services of any investment bank, according to the IR Directors of Europe’s largest companies.
The findings come from a new research report conducted among more than 150 IR Directors, the large majority of whom operate in Europe’s top 400 companies by market capitalisation. The research was conducted by Real IR, Europe’s leading investor relations magazine and CommunicateResearch, the polling and market research specialist.
Focusing on the IR Directors’ use, attitudes and future plans regarding third-party services provided by investment banks and specialist IR consultancies, the research report, entitled Who Serves the IR Director?, is believed to be the first of its kind conducted in Europe.
UBS emerged as the most favoured investment bank — with a net favourability rating of 74 per cent. The bank was followed closely (in order) by: Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Cazenove, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch/Credit Suisse First Boston, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein and Goldman Sachs. All of these banks received a net favourability rating of more than 50 per cent.
A second tier of investment banks emerged with favourability ratings from 29 per cent downwards. This tier (in order) comprises: ABN Amro/BNP Paribas (both with 29 per cent), West LB, Schroders, Lazard, Bank of New York, Credit Agricole, ING and Nomura International.
Bank of America received a net favourability rating of zero.
Two banks received a negative net favourability rating: Commerzbank and RBC Capital Markets.
“Investment banks have recently been investing heavily in trying to improve the services they offer to IR teams at Europe’s largest companies,” says Scott Payton, editor of Real IR magazine. “It’s clear from this survey that some banks have been dramatically more successful at this than others.”
Dominic (bio & disclosures) is IR Web Report‘s founder and an online investor relations consultant. He advises leading public companies and investor relations service providers worldwide on using the web for disclosure, engagement and profile building. You can contact him via the contacts page.
Subscribe to feed