Under the leadership of James Gorman, Morgan Stanley has reshaped its business mix in ways that it thinks will position it for a world in which its clients need more connectivity than ever. Driving that process in its investment bank is co-president Ted Pick.

A barnstorming year in primary equity markets and M&A advisory, combined with consistent and comprehensive debt capital markets coverage, earn Citi the award for the region’s best investment bank.

Many banks could press strong claims to be western Europe’s best investment bank for the first year of Covid – when all issuers desperately needed financing, corporations and sovereigns sought strategic advice and investors required ideas and liquidity to rapidly adjust market exposures.

A strong hold on the foreign currency and fixed income markets in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya proved a vital asset for Standard Bank over the last 12 months, as South Africa suffered particularly damaging Covid-19 lockdowns. Largely because of this regional investment banking structure, coupled with provisioning for credit losses in South Africa, the group made almost twice as much money in the rest of Africa as it did in South Africa in 2020 – highlighting how much Standard Bank is now a pan-African play for investors.

For the first time since 2014, the award for Asia’s best investment bank goes to Goldman Sachs.

Citi stands head and shoulders above the competition in Middle East investment banking. The US bank ranked number one in M&A, completing $53.3 billion worth of deals across the awards period, according to Dealogic. It also topped the equity capital market tables, completing 18 deals worth a combined $2.33 billion. It led the way in Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel, completing several deals that matter deeply to a region keen to wean itself off oil and gas, and to create truly diversified economies.

This year BofA Securities, led by Augusto Urmeneta, head of investment banking in Latin America, topped the equity capital markets volume and fee tables across the region, as well as being first in fees and second in terms of volume for M&A.

TD Securities is far from being the biggest investment bank in Canada, but its performance in the awards period saw it post impressive gains in both its investment banking and markets businesses. After many years, it dislodges its bigger rival RBC Capital Markets to win Euromoney’s award for Canada’s best investment bank.

The period of this year’s Euromoney Awards for Excellence, covering almost exactly the complete market cycle of the pandemic, exposed the need for an investment bank franchise to be unusually adaptable if it was to serve clients over that period.

The firm didn’t foresee the coronavirus crisis when it decided to pivot its investment bank more explicitly towards clients than ever before. But as so often, its timing could not have been better

This year the region’s best investment bank is JPMorgan. In a highly competitive year, the US bank claims the award because of the unrivalled breadth of its mandates across investment banking products, as well as its dominance in many of the region’s countries.

Goldman Sachs’s first ever investor day in January 2020 might have left more questions than answers around the firm’s forays into the brave new worlds of consumer and transaction banking. But one thing was unshakeable – its investment bank franchise. This year it is our choice as the US’s best investment bank.

Quantity was never in doubt with Citi – every year, its capital markets team churn out the deals. When it adds quality to the mix, and an ability to innovate, it’s unbeatable.

Western Europe’s best investment bank, BNP Paribas, is increasingly central to capital markets across the continent. That’s been particularly clear since the onset of the coronavirus crisis.

At a time of global economic retrenchment, dollar volatility, slowing trade flows and border closures, Africa needs deeper localization of markets and financing. Standard Bank’s expertise in these fields makes it the clear choice for best investment bank in Africa this year.

In a transformative year for capital markets in the Middle East, HSBC stands out as the region’s best investment bank, reclaiming the title it last won in 2017.

After years of pullback from emerging markets by big Western banks, only two players can now claim to offer truly comprehensive investment banking coverage in CEE.

Until the coronavirus crisis, it was a familiar year for RBC Capital Markets in the awards period. As usual, the bank faced strong individual competitors in almost every business, product or sector in which it operates, but no firm rivals it across the board.

Morgan Stanley has the most balanced investment banking operation in Asia, both geographically and by product. Across M&A, equity and debt capital markets, from Japan via China to southeast Asia, Korea and Australia, the bank is reliably high quality.

The firm’s clear global leadership today is the result of long-term strategic thinking and sustained and disciplined investment of strong earnings.

Canada’s investment banking franchises have had a challenging environment to deal with in 2018 and 2019. But RBC Capital Markets has weathered the situation well and is Canada’s best investment bank.

If there is one refrain that crops up when some Morgan Stanley executives talk about their business, it is “critical judgement”. It refers to those key moments in a deal when the firm’s advice will be the defining factor in determining success. Time and again in the last year it has got these moments right, making it the US’s best investment bank.

The shine may have come off emerging markets in recent years, but for those willing to take the risk, there are still excellent opportunities.

In investment banking, the first quarter of this year capped a particularly difficult period in the markets; one that has hit Europe and European firms hardest.

With Russian markets reeling from a fresh bout of sanctions and Turkey suffering extreme currency volatility, investment bankers in CEE were on the back foot last year. As the flow of larger deals slowed to a trickle, the small group of global players still focused on the region struggled to find a market for their services.

This year, the region’s best investment bank is BTG Pactual. It climbed back to leadership in its domestic market and grew strongly elsewhere in the region.

JPMorgan today dominates the global corporate and investment banking landscape. The key to success? A long-term strategy led by group co-president and CIB chief Daniel Pinto, and a management team that keeps the business in a constant state of reinvention.