The survey of international fund managers' attitudes towards Irish stockbrokers produced some noteworthy results, with good news for Davy and broking debutant Merrion and not-so-good for Goodbody and NCB.
The survey by Tempest for Reuters is different from the annual Finance survey in that Tempest polls 150 international fund managers while the Finance survey is of domestic institutions. The Tempest survey is an indication more of how Irish brokers have marketed their products and services abroad rather than on the home market.
Last year, Davy retained its prime position in the Finance survey for equity research and dealing, with ABN-Amro jumping two places to second - seen as a highly creditable performance at the time - followed by Goodbody, NCB and Bloxham in that order.
Maybe international investors have different priorities or maybe the methodology was a bit different from that used by Finance, but last year the Tempest survey had NCB well in the lead with over 42 per cent of the votes polled, followed by Goodbody with almost 32 per cent, with Davy in third place with less than 13 per cent.
The 2000 survey by Tempest shows, however, that the recent turmoil at NCB which saw the likes of John Conroy, Barry Connell, Adrian O'Carroll and Shane Nolan jump ship to form Merrion has taken its toll, with NCB slumping from over 43 per cent to under 15 per cent.
Even NCB's competitors concede that that is something of a rogue figure as it covers a period when the broker lost some of its most senior dealers and analysts, with their replacements not in their jobs long enough to make an impression on the international fund managers polled by Tempest. That sub15 per cent figure is likely to be substantially bigger in a year's time.
Merrion, however, is no doubt exultant with its 16 per cent poll and third place in the Tempest survey - just four months after getting its stockbroking licence from the Central Bank.
People in the market are a bit flabbergasted at the pitiful 12.8 per cent poll Davy got in the 1999 Tempest poll. Davy people are accused of a lot - notably a somewhat arrogant attitude to their peers - but their professionalism has never been questioned. The improvement to 24.3 per cent is a big change, but still short of what the Davy people believe they are worth.
ABN-Amro's strong performance in the 1999 Finance survey was totally at variance with the Tempest survey where ABN didn't even feature in the top five. ABN's rating among domestic fund managers is higher than that poll would suggest.
