It’s a tie for the top spot in equity trading.
Among the multiple firms who maintain cash trading desks, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan are tied for the number-one spot among brokers, according to Greenwich Associates. In the consultancy’s most recent survey, the 2014 Greenwich Share Leaders in U.S. Equity Trading, the firm ranked the brokers through the end of Q1 2014 and all three were virtually tied as the best place to trade.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan all had trading shares between 8.3 percent and 8.5 percent, combining high-touch and low-touch cash equity commissions with U.S.-based institutions.
Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse round out the top five with identical market shares of 7.8 percent.
“In U.S. equities the main priority is getting paid for what you deliver,” said Greenwich Associates consultant Jay Bennett. “By maintaining their trading share in trading, some of the bulge bracket banks are now punching above their weight class in terms of their research presence. On the other hand, mid-sized brokers and research specialists that are now being paid in large part through CSAs must be careful that they are being adequately compensated for their research.”
When it comes to algorithmic trading in the U.S., the top position is held jointly by Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, which are used for algo trading by 60 percent to 64 percent of institutional investors.
J.P. Morgan, UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch round out the top five electronic trading brokers. Each earned market penetration scores of 48 percent to 51 percent.
In portfolio trading, Citi was tops in North America with a trading share of 10.5 percent, followed by three banks-Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley-tied with shares of 9.2 percent to 9.7 percent. Rounding out the top five were Barclays, Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse, each having market shares of 8.2 percent and 8.6%.
When it comes to ranking the quality of the execution at the brokerages, institutional portfolio managers, analysts and traders participating in Greenwich’s annual research program said that they received the best quality of service and products they receive from J.P. Morgan and Sanford C. Bernstein. Sanford C. Bernstein claims this title alone among institutional analysts.
Also, quality leaders in U.S. cash equity trading for 2014 are Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. For electronic trading, the 2014 best brokers are Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets.
