Davy continues to dominate the Irish stockbroking sector while NCB has overtaken Goodbody as the second major player, according to the 1998 Finance Magazine annual stockbroking survey.
It shows that Irish fund managers have once again voted Davy as the brokers offering the best dealing services and Irish equity research, followed by NCB and Goodbody. NCB lead the field in research on leading industrial stocks, coming in ahead of Davy, Goodbody and ABN-Amro.
In the survey, Irish fund managers indicate that research and analytical services are of primary importance in distinguishing the services offered by the various stockbroking firms.
Looking at the broker's economic research services, the fund managers continued to rank Davy economist, Mr Jim O'Leary as the best, followed by NCB's Mr Dermot O'Brien with ABN-Amro economist, Dr Dan McLaughlin taking third place.
In bond research analysis, NCB's Mr O'Brien came out ahead of Mr O'Leary followed by Dr McLaughlin.
Among the analysts, NCB's Mr John Conroy, was voted the top equity strategist, followed by Mr Robbie Kelleher of Davy, and Mr John Clarke of ABN-Amro. Within the various sectors, Ms Emer Lang of Davy was voted best analyst for financial stocks, Mr Joe Gill of ABN-Amro was ranked first in the food and agribusiness sector, and Mr John Clarke also from ABN-Amro won the leading industrials analyst.
Among the smaller capitalised stocks, Mr Kieran Mahon of Davy, maintained his top ranking while Goodbody's Ms Joan Garahy was voted best analyst in the pharmaceutical sector and Mr David Lowe, also of Goodbody, was ranked the number one analyst in the technology field.
Finance notes the growth in the number of analysts in the firms and the creation of two new analysis sectors of technology and pharmaceuticals, reflecting the diversity of the Irish market.
The survey confirms that Davy, NCB, Goodbody and ABN-Amro dominate the Irish stockbroking industry followed by Bloxham and Dolmen Butler Briscoe.
It also notes a decline in the dominance of Irish investment institutions in the Dublin market, which is paralleled by the rise in international fund managers, located in North America, the UK and Continental Europe.
