It was difficult this year to find a firm that
excelled in more than one region enough to justify the best
equities house award. Goldman Sachs was close. Its US capital
markets franchise is solid, and it has one of the largest,
most automated, sales and trading desks. And it rivals UBS in
Europe in capital raising. It is weaker on sales and trading,
though, and its research platform is not rated highly across
enough sectors. In the US especially there is a sense that
Goldman's commitment to full-service research has
dwindled.
Morgan Stanley was the other strong contender, and won the category
in the US this year. It has returned with a vengeance to the
equity-linked...
