Davy retains first place in survey

Davy Stockbrokers has retained its position as the best company for Irish equity research and equities dealing service, according to the latest Finance magazine survey of stockbrokers. ABN-AMRO has jumped two positions to second and is followed in the rankings by Goodbody, NCB and Bloxham.

Later this week, it is understood that Davy will receive a second award when it is rated number one broker in Ireland for equity research and execution by Global Investor magazine.

The survey shows some significant changes in ranking in the various research categories. In the economist category, NCB's Mr Dermot O'Brien has displaced Davy's Mr Jim O'Leary from the top position he has held for 11 of the past 13 years. NCB's Mr Michael O'Sullivan is also rated number one for bond research, followed by Mr Oliver Mangan of AIB Primary Dealers and Ms Martha Cordial of Goodbody.

Mr Robbie Kelleher of Davy has retained his title of best equity strategist, followed by Mr John Clarke of ABN-AMRO. In the financials, Mr Eamonn Hughes has displaced Ms Emer Lang of Davy from the number one position. Goodbody's Mr Liam Igoe has jumped from third to first position for food and agribusiness research, while ABN-AMRO's Mr John Clarke is rated top analyst of industrial companies, followed by Mr Joe Burnell of Davy and Ms Joan Garahy of Goodbody.

Ms Garahy has also retained her position as best analyst of pharmaceutical companies, while ABN-AMRO's Ms Jemma Houli han has jumped from fifth to first place in technology research while maintaining her position as top analyst in the telecoms sector.

The survey does not include a number of well-known research names who left NCB earlier this year to form Merrion Capital, such as Mr John Conroy, Mr Shane Nolan and Mr Rory Gillen, nor does it include any of the recently appointed replacements at NCB, including NCB's head of research Mr John Reynolds and the highly rated financials analyst Mr John Kelly, formerly of Merrill Lynch in London.

The Finance survey also covers public companies, and in this area, CRH is by far the highest regarded organisation, winning top place in nearly every category.

The Finance survey was carried out in August and September, before the revelations about some CRH directors and Ansbacher accounts became public.