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Driving deals
Executing the largest IPOs, reopening markets, entering new markets, building on repeat business and picking the right windows in uncertain times – one bank did it all. For always being in the driver’s seat, Goldman Sachs is IFR’s EMEA Equity House of the Year.
Many hoppy returns
Consolidation in the beer industry was a defining trend of the capital markets in the past year. But rarely was it funded by primary issuance of equity – and for good reason: high and consistent cashflows facilitated cheap borrowing.
Ding Dong Dell, the IPO went well
Transformation stories are a tough sell in ECM, with outcomes hinging on the ability of the issuer to convince and inspire. But Dong Energy, together with its banks, adeptly navigated a minefield of investor anxieties that ranged from the future of green subsidies to concerns about a massive expansion plan ahead to ensure a successful Copenhagen listing.
Going postal
Asian equity offerings proved a tough sell in 2016, but one bank used its global relationships to full advantage, raising more for its clients than any of its peers. For its consistent leadership in difficult markets, Morgan Stanley is IFR’s Asia-Pacific Equity House of the Year.
Dual dazzler
The US$1.3bn dual listing of messenger app Line in Tokyo and New York was one of those rare IPOs that not only set the financial world alight, but that also caught the imagination of the public at large.
Rock-bottom interest rates, quantitative easing and negative yields have turned the fixed-income investor universe upside down. How do fund managers make sense of these changes and how are they positioning their portfolios in response?
2016 couldn’t have been much worse for equity capital markets bankers: big spikes in volatility, intermittent periods of market closure, pulled deals and a collapse in fees. How have they weathered the storm, and how will they carry their injuries into 2017?
Chinese banks and brokers are taking over the Asian investment banking league tables, as more mainland issuers and investors turn to the international markets. Global rivals need to rethink their approach.
Big banks have lost more than US$60bn in their corporate centres in the last four years. Some critics say the units can mask the true performance of business divisions.
The rise and rise of the passive fund is yet another result of the low interest rate environment. And a worrying one.
A long-term commitment to re-balancing the Chinese economy should make the M&A boom more sustainable. But worries about capital flight and the renminbi’s weakness may force the authorities to put a stop to the party.
Fintech start-ups have mostly played around the edges of investment banks’ core activities – but not for much longer. The global financial full-service model was already creaking, but an Uber-style disruption to front-office activity is no longer a distant threat.
A growing realisation that over-enthusiastic and uncoordinated banking regulation is damaging the real economy, combined with the shock election victory of Donald Trump, is likely to see the regulatory onslaught of the post-financial crisis period lessen in intensity, if not reverse course.
