The document provides results and analysis from the 2018 Extel survey. It names the top brokers, research providers, and analysts as voted by buy-side firms. Exane BNP Paribas was named best overall broker and for research. Kepler Cheuvreux received awards for best sales and corporate access. Numis Securities won for UK small and midcaps. Absolute Strategy Research was recognized for independent research. The document discusses the methodology and voter demographics of the Extel survey. It also includes comments from award-winning firms on what makes them successful and the value of the Extel survey.

1. FINAL RESULTS
IDENTIFYING EXCELLENCE
IMPORTANT NOTE: Extel is a
registered trade mark and can
only be used with express
consent from Extel Surveys.

2. 2018
AWARDS
FOREWARD
Aligning client consumption, value and service: As I can
personally attest, client strategy and resource allocation
was almost solely focused on a gross commission
number (whether real or potential). It is now clear that
whilst there is more transparency, the art of client
strategy is much more complex: How a client consumes,
what they value and the service provided as part of a
procurement process has placed increased emphasis on
understanding how sell side service “matches” value to
buy-side need, with which partners Corporates choose
to work with and what access they provide to investors.
Changing landscapes: A focus on integrity saw a decline
in buy-side participants at the lower end. Whether this
is caused by avoiding contradictory messages (not
aligning to research payment) or that fewer brokers are
servicing smaller funds. Regardless, this change
improves the integrity of the survey as fringe votes fall
by the wayside. More significantly, fewer brokers were
recognised by investors and this decline was across all
broker types (global, regional, local). Could this be the
tip of the iceberg? (the Buy-side has promised
consolidation for years; MiFID II is the catalyst). The fall
has been most marked in the Band 10 firms (US$30m+
in commission), as the number of sell-side firms voted
has reduced by every investor across the band.
At Extel our own change this year is to increase focus on
helping clients understand their business. Rather than
results being just a validation exercise, we hope to
continue to engage with our partners throughout the
course of the year; helping inform client strategy,
vendor selection and providing transparency on best
practice.
We will surface data that you have not seen historically
and with the breadth of data available in conjunction
with our new parent we look forward to partnering with
you in the future.
While the Extel survey is reflective of 2017 service
provision it is hard not to dwell on the impact of MiFID II
on all parties within the research provision process.
Indeed, Extel 2018 is the most robust analysis of the
research landscape since the regulatory change.
MiFID II has increased transparency between sell-side
firms and buy-side; but pressure to increase
performance and reduce budgets makes identifying
excellence more valuable than ever before. These
trends, coupled with improvements made to our
service, have increased demand for a different
approach to understanding what clients really value.
We would like to believe that the changes to our survey
output and analysis have been the core driver to our
increased client engagement, but I am more confident
that it highlights the need for a robust independent
source of intelligence from a business that, uniquely,
works across the Sell-side, Buy-side and Corporates.
During our discussions in to the lead up to the survey
and now in our results, there are some very clear trends
that have emerged:
A focus on integrity: Our buy-side voters have made a
concerted effort to improve their submissions and this
has resulted in what we consider as our most robust
survey ever. As we dig into results it is clear that the
historic “vote instead of payment” has ceased to be
ample reward; regulations have placed an increased
responsibility on buy-side firms to understand who they
are partnering with, and why. Indeed, Extel’s buy-side
engagement has increased dramatically as firms seek to
audit their partnerships more effectively.
I am delighted to present
Extel 2018 results in a year
that is one of transition;
2018 presented unique
challenges, set against dual
headwinds of regulatory
change and a contracting
industry
“MiFID II has increased transparency
between sell-side firms and buy-side; but
pressure to increase performance and
reduce budgets makes identifying excellence
more valuable than ever before.”

3. 2018
AWARDS
METHODOLGY
INTRODUCTION: The Extel survey is a
consensus based qualitative survey.
Our approach is to work with the Sell-side to
understand the client landscape and verify this
with Buy-side and Corporate participants.
During the review process we progressively
scrutinize the votes received and how they
aggregate to their respective awards.
We are continually seeking greater intelligence
and transparency on commission banding and
are happy to discuss weightings.
VOTE VALIDITY: A significant proportion of
votes are submitted centrally from a control
function or an existing broker evaluation.
For individual votes we undertake the
following verification protocols to ensure that
the voter is relevant to the industry. Votes that
do not comply are excluded:
• Fund – size, type, commission banding and
relevance to the market.
• Individual - votes must originate from a
valid, verified professional email address
• Role - the voter must be a recognized
investment professional
• Registered – all voters have to be verified
through reference to the registered
company using independent sources
• Relevance - votes must be in sectors
relevant to coverage/strategy. (e.g. equity
votes but running FICC strategies
BAND WEIGHTS: Our results are aligned to
commissions paid (in 2017). We weight all
Institutional voters by commission band.
This weighting is a multiple of x30 for the
largest firms paying over US$30m in gross
commission (Band 10) to no multiple for those
with a gross commission wallet of less than
US$250k (Band 1). We use AUM in UK SMID
and Investment Trusts for those categories.
Further detail on these bandings can be found
by clicking here
IMPORTANT NOTE:. Extel is a registered trade mark and can only be used with express consent from Extel
Surveys.
RESEARCH PAYMENTS: For 2018 Extel’s vote
weighting is based upon gross commission in
order to reflect the 2017 research
engagement.
Going forward we endeavor to re-weight
voting in research categories based on
research payment.
Should you wish to have a bespoke cut of
results based on research spend please
contact us.

4. 2018
AWARDS
VOTER DEMOGRAPHICS
BUY SIDE
VOTES
FIRMS:
INDIVDUALS:
2,682
7,721
SELL SIDE
VOTES
FIRMS:
INDIVDUALS:
241
2,040
CORPORATE
VOTES
FIRMS:
INDIVDUALS:
1,099
1,572
TOTAL FIRMS: INDIVIDUALS: VOTES:
4,022 11,333 1.28m
BAND 10:
• BlackRock Investment Management (UK)
• Capital International
• Capital Research Global Investors
• Capital World Investors
• Fidelity Management & Research
• GLG Partners
• MFS Investment Management
• Millennium Management
• Wellington Management
BAND 9:
• Citadel Investment
• GIC
• Point72 Asset Management
BAND 8:
• Moon Capital Management
BAND 7:
• York Capital Management
• Artemis Investment Management
• Generali Investments
BAND 5 & 4:
• Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
• Adelphi Capital
• Brandes Investment Partners
• Marshall Wace
• Universities Superannuation Scheme
23 BUY SIDE FIRMS
25% of Total Points
33% of Commission
Firms
1 x BAND 10
3 x BAND 9
1 x BAND 8
2 x BAND 7
Firms
7 x BAND 6
12 x BAND 5
6 x BAND 4
4 x BAND 3 (and below)
36 CO-ORDINATED VOTERS:
FIRMSBYNUMBER:
FIRMSBYPOINTS:
Band 10 to 8 Band 7 to 4 Band 4 to 1
CENTRALISED BROKER VOTES

5. AWARD WINNERS

6. 2018
AWARDS
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Best Broker Best Research Best Sector Research
Best Sales Best Equity Sales Best Execution
Best Corporate Access Best UK SMID Best IRP
Best Equity Analyst Best Specialist Sales Best IRO
MAJOR AWARDS
1st Exane BNP Paribas
2nd UBS IB
3rd Morgan Stanley
1st UBS IB
2nd Kepler Cheuvreux
3rd B of A Merrill Lynch
1st Exane BNP Paribas
2nd UBS IB
3rd J.P. Morgan
1st Kepler Cheuvreux
2nd Exane BNP Paribas
3rd UBS IB
1st Kepler Cheuvreux
2nd Exane BNP Paribas
3rd Oddo BHF / Natixis
1st Numis Securities
2nd Peel Hunt
3rd Liberum
1st Absolute Strategy
2nd GaveKal Research
3rd New Street Research
1st Hannes Wittig
2nd Christian Becker
3rd Arnaud Courtial
1st Gerard Zaffram (Exane BNP)
2nd Vishal Lakhani (Exane BNP)
3rd Chris Buxton (Exane BNP)
1st Jeff Stent (Exane BNP)
2nd Eamonn Ferry (Exane BNP)
3rd Mark Manduca (BofA ML)
1st Exane BNP Paribas
2nd UBS IB
3rd Morgan Stanley
1st Exane BNP Paribas
2nd UBS IB
3rd Morgan Stanley
IMPORTANT NOTE:. Extel is a registered trade mark and can only be used with express consent from Extel Surveys.

7. 2018
AWARDS
Best Overall Broker
AWARDS
Exane BNP
Paribas
Best Overall Research
Exane BNP
Paribas
About Exane BNP Paribas:
Exane BNP Paribas is one of Europe’s leading equities
businesses. We are a joint venture partnership between
Exane Group and BNP Paribas.
Exane BNP Paribas offers a high quality execution
platform with a tier 1 electronic trading capability. This is
combined with a research product renowned for its
depth & quality, experienced Sales and Specialist Sales
teams and a premium corporate access service.
Our Success:
Exane BNP Paribas is successful because we have great
people and we are always trying to improve. With the
support of BNP Paribas, we have invested in top people
and a leading platform. Consistent investment across
multiple cycles has helped us to build a team of high
quality, hard-working professionals.
Content is key. We try to produce the best quality
research content in the market. We aim at the insightful,
in-depth analysis which is most highly valued by
investors yet most scarce in the market.
Everything we do goes through a rigorous quality control
process – if the quality threshold isn’t met, the work
doesn’t go out.
Clients have always been at the heart of our business.
Our singular focus on European Cash Equity research,
advice and execution services has allowed us to
specialise & develop a really strong expertise.
Why is Extel a valuable service for Exane BNP Paribas:
Extel is the key benchmark of quality in the European
equities industry. Thanks to the high participation from
key investors and a robust methodology based on
commissions paid, this survey is the definitive guide to
the most influential thinkers in the market.
Best Equity Analyst
1st Jeff Stent
2nd Eamonn
Ferry
Other Results (by Rank):
1
2
1
1
2
Overall Broker
Overall Sales
Equity
Sales
Equity
Research
Corporate
Access
1
Overall
Research
8
Execution

8. 2018
AWARDS
Best Overall Sales:
AWARDS
Kepler
Cheuvreux
Best Corporate Access:
Kepler
Cheuvreux
About Kepler Cheuvreux:
Kepler Cheuvreux is a leading independent European
financial services company which specializes in
research, execution and advisory services. The
company has four business lines: Equities, Debt &
Derivatives, Investment Solutions and Corporate
Finance. Headquartered in Paris, the group employs
around 550 staff. This multi-local company is also
present in Amsterdam, Boston, Brussels, Frankfurt,
Geneva, London, Madrid, Milan, New York, Oslo,
Stockholm, Vienna, Zurich.
Management and staff are the largest shareholders:
major European financial groups, including Crédit
Agricole CIB, UniCredit, Rabobank, Swedbank and
Belfius are also important shareholders.
Kepler Cheuvreux employs over 120 equity research
analysts who research 1,000 European companies.
Kepler Cheuvreux has the largest equity research
footprint in Continental Europe.
Our Success:
Our multi-local research & distribution is a
differentiated model. An open architecture
partnership model (e.g. five ECM research &
distribution agreements) has allowed us to become a
consolidator among European research providers. We
have signed 440 Mifid II research agreements as clients
need breadth (1,000 companies under coverage) and
quality (cf Extel rankings).
Why is Extel a valuable service for Kepler Cheuvreux
Extel rankings are an important benchmark for
multiple stakeholders: shareholders in our business,
our ECM partner banks, corporate issuers, asset
managers and, of course, our staff.
The ease of use of the survey web-site has improved
dramatically over the years as well as the granularity of
analysis of the survey results.
We would encourage all asset managers to download
their internal votes / scoring of Mifid II interactions to
Extel in order to ease their work-flow and to prevent
them from being solicited during the vote campaign.
Other Results (by Rank):
5
1
8
10
1
Overall Broker
Overall Sales
Equity
Sales
Equity
Research
Corporate
Access
7
Overall
Research
2
Execution

9. 2018
AWARDS
Best UK Small & MidCap
AWARDS
Numis
Securities
About Numis Securities:
Numis is one of the UK’s leading independent
institutional stockbrokers and corporate
advisors. We offer a full range of research,
execution, corporate broking and advisory
services to companies of all sizes quoted in the
UK and their investors.
We are recognised as being one of the leading
providers of access to capital for UK listed
companies.
Our Success:
Relentless in the pursuit of success for our
clients, we are acknowledged for the quality of
our people and our focus on providing old
fashioned client service and advice, set in a
modern context.
Numis has a strong culture of integrity and hard
work. Our partnership ethos drives long-term
relationships and echoes the service culture of
the past.
Why is Extel a valuable service for Numis
Securities
The annual Extel survey is the premier external
benchmark for the quality of UK and European
Research, Sales and Execution services.
We have been clients of the survey for many
years. It continues to be one of the most useful
sources of data for helping us to refine our
service to institutional clients, as we endeavour
to deliver continuous improvement.
Rank Name
2nd Will Wallis
3rd Paul Richards
4th Howard Seymour
5th David Toms
7th Gareth Davies
1
1
2
1
Best SMID
SMID Sales
Corporate
Broking
Investment
Trusts
2
SMID
Research
SMID Leading Individuals
1
SMID Trading

10. 2018
AWARDS
Best Independent Research
AWARDS
Absolute
Strategy
Research
About Absolute Strategy Research:
Founded in 2006, Absolute Strategy Research is one
of Europe's most experienced global investment
strategy/macro teams. Research coverage extends
across three global macro pillars: Investment
Strategy, Multi-Asset Strategy, and Economics. The
firm also conducts quantitative analysis, technical
strategy, political research and has developed a suite
of proprietary data and analytical tools including the
widely-followed ASR Multi Asset survey.
Our Success:
Absolute Strategy Research is focused on providing
the highest quality, actionable investment research
for institutional clients around the world. ASR’s
experienced macro-strategy research teams has a
reputation that delivers ‘insight with
accuracy’. Research is built on the foundation of
world leading economic and thematic analysis; that
challenges the consensus and provides solid
investment conclusions. An extensive library of
macro-to-market relationships and proprietary data
tools, provide the context necessary to navigate the
volatile macro-environment.
ASR is valued for partnerships, building relationships
to understand client needs for bespoke macro
insights by an experienced and highly rated macro
specialist sales team.
As an Independent Research Provider, ASR is free of
conflicts of interest, trusted by clients to build ASR
research into strategic asset allocation processes.
Why is Extel a valuable service for ASR:
With MIFID 2, Extel has become even more
important in providing an external validation of
‘quality’ in an environment where such metrics are
hard to find. ASR views Extel as one of the principal
routes for ensuring we are recognised as a valued
resource for investment institutions globally.
9
8
5
9
10
Economics & Strategy
Global
Economics
GEM
Economics
& Macro
Multi-Asset
Research
GEM Strategy
6 Valuation &
Accounting
3
Global
Strategy
9 Index
Analysis
Rank Name
4th David Bowers
6th Ian Harnett
21st Dominic White
25th Charles Cara
Economics & Strategy Leading
Individuals