Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley remain the top two prime brokers in Asia, according to our latest survey of market share among prime brokers in the region. But their lead over the field both by mandates and by assets – which used to be very substantial on both counts prior to the global financial crisis in 2008 – has now almost completely disappeared.
Among the top five firms the biggest mover in the past year has been Credit Suisse, which has now effectively squeezed the gap by assets on Morgan Stanley in second place to almost nothing, leaving it very close to touching distance of Goldman Sachs at the top as well. And by mandates, the top five firms – also including Deutsche Bank and UBS in third and fourth places – are all now very closely matched, with Deutsche also gaining further market share during the past year.
In an overall Asian hedge...