Greenwich Associates today announced the 2015 Greenwich Share and Quality Leaders in Flow Equity Derivatives and Convertibles in Europe and North America.
Brokers battling for potentially lucrative trading business in equity swaps, equity options & volatility products, equity futures, and convertibles compete on the basis of pricing, willingness to commit capital to trades, their own creditworthiness, client service, and a range of other factors. “Greenwich Share and Quality Leaders demonstrate consistent strength across most, if not all, of these areas,” says Greenwich Associates consultant Jay Bennett.
2015 Greenwich Leaders: Convertibles
The 2015 Greenwich Share Leader in European Convertibles is Deutsche Bank. Deutsche Bank has separated itself from its rivals in European convertibles trading in both trading share and quality. The bank’s 13.6% share in convertibles secondary trading tops its nearest competitors BNP Paribas and Barclays. Deutsche Bank also claims the 2015 title of Greenwich Quality Leader in European Convertibles.
Most of the leading brokers of convertibles in the United States have strong primary issuance platforms that they have leveraged to maintain positions atop the market in recent years. J.P. Morgan leads with a secondary trading share of 14.0% and is the 2015 Greenwich Share Leader. The 2015 Greenwich Quality Leaders in U.S. Convertibles are J.P. Morgan and Jefferies.
2015 Greenwich Leaders: Equity Options & Volatility Products
Three banks are deadlocked atop the North American market in equity options & volatility products. Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Goldman Sachs, the 2015 Greenwich Share Leaders in North American Equity Options & Volatility Products, all have relationship penetration scores of 66%–69%, and all provide competitive pricing on index and single-stock options, high-quality sales coverage and, of course, a willingness to use their balance sheets to get trades done. The North American Greenwich Quality Leaders for 2015 in this segment are Citi, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.
The 2015 Greenwich Share Leaders in European Equity Options & Volatility Products have all demonstrated a commitment to providing consistent sales and trading service throughout volatile markets. In Europe, J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank are tied at the top of this list with relationship penetration scores of 63%-64. The 2015 Greenwich Quality Leaders in European Equity Options & Volatility Products Coverage are Morgan Stanley and Société Générale.
2015 Greenwich Leaders: Equity Swaps
The prevalence of hedge funds in the swaps market in North America gives a big advantage to brokers with sizable prime brokerage businesses. These dynamics help keep trading relationships concentrated among the firms that make up the 2015 Greenwich Share Leaders in North American Equity Swaps. With a relationship penetration score of 67%, Morgan Stanley tops that list. In a market in which client quality ratings are heavily influenced by pricing as well as prime brokerage service, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley share the title of 2015 Greenwich Quality Leaders.
J.P. Morgan tops the list of 2015 Greenwich Share Leaders in European Equity Swaps with a 60% relationship penetration score. The 2015 Greenwich Quality Leaders are Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Deutsche Bank and Société Générale.
2015 Greenwich Leaders: Equity Futures
The 2015 Greenwich Share Leaders in Equity Futures in both Europe and North America tend to have robust electronic trading platforms. Many also have strong clearing businesses that help attract trade execution business. In North America, Goldman Sachs is the clear market leader with a relationship penetration score of 51%.
The futures business is more broadly distributed in Europe, where Goldman Sachs and Morgan Staley also lead the market, and are tied with relationship penetration scores of 46%. These firms are all 2015 Greenwich Share Leaders in Equity Futures.