Leader of the pack
SA firm has for the first time beaten its global peers and won the research award
BG Securities, the institutional stockbroker of the Standard Bank Group, tops the research rankings in this year’s Financial Mail ratings. It is the first time an SA-owned and operated broker has topped the tables in recent memory, edging last year’s top-rated firm, UBS, into third place after four years at the top. RMB Morgan Stanley was placed second.
SBG raced up the rankings from fifth place last year. This year, its analysts took 35 finalist positions in the sector categories compared with 26 last year. It topped the rankings for several large sectors including beverages, insurance and telecommunications. This was helped by Rey Wium, who moved from Renaissance Capital to SBG last year. He took the top ranking in an unprecedented four different sectors.
SBG head of research Marc Ter Mors says the firm has been differentiating itself by focusing on its regional specialisation of Africa. “The integration of different Standard Bank Group offerings has enabled us to offer
Sa one-stop-shop — a house not only for equities but also macro, currency, commodity and fixed income insights. We tend to see that a top regional specialist is always in the top three of the set of brokers that houses will use. That’s where SBG has been able to differentiate.”
When Standard Bank broke off its partnership with Credit Suisse in 2010, it had to forge a new go-it-alone strategy in a business where having an international partner was considered essential to access global liquidity.
Ter Mors says at the time clients questioned how committed Standard Bank would be to its brokerage business. “We’ve proved that we are committed. Clients no longer question that.”
SBG’s achievement stands out in an