UBS Warburg has won for the second consecutive year an important poll that helps determine the pay and careers of Asia's research analysts.
The poll, organised by Institutional Investor Magazine, asks fund managers across Asia to vote for their favourite research analysts.
Last year's runner-up, CS First Boston, stayed at No 2 while in an upset, Morgan Stanley dropped three notches to No 6 as Citibank Salomon made a rapid rise to No 3 from No 8.
The rankings are an indication of how good analysts have been in providing information and stock calls to fund managers and have a significant impact on the analysts' pay. Analysts who jump into one of the top three slots from lower down in the rankings can see their pay increase by hundreds of thousands of dollars virtually overnight.
Merrill Lynch slipped to fifth place from fourth; CLSA fell to eighth from seventh; and Deutsche Bank climbed one ranking to ninth from 10th.
But it was the switch between Morgan Stanley and Salomon that caught the attention of analysts in Hong Kong, who were surprised to see a powerhouse like Morgan Stanley fall to sixth.
