“We have a very strong FIG culture within the firm. Coverage bankers, capital markets bankers and research are all very much part of one team. We feel aligned to each other, and the reward for that is a lot of repeat business from our clients.”
There is also a real commitment to being product and market agnostic, says David Marks, head of FIG debt capital markets (DCM). “Our DCM and ECM capital raising teams sit together. It means that we are able to focus on getting the right solution for the client.”
In terms of innovation, it could be said that JPMorgan revolutionised the dollar hybrid market with its invention of the Moody’s Basket D ‘CENts’ structure, which has subsequently been replicated in the market. It has also pioneered new issuers, including the first international equity offering from a bank from a former Soviet state with the innovative two-stage $846m equity capital raising for Kazkommertsbank in Kazakhstan. Similarly, it led the $300m international equity offering for Nigerian bank, United Bank for Africa, the first from a bank from sub-Saharan Africa outside of South Africa.
“The scale of our business means that we can offer clients advice across the full financing spectrum, across currencies and across institutional, retail, public and private markets,” says Mr Marks. “Add to that our knowledge of secondary market flows and we have a very powerful proposition that is able to be flexible to client needs and market conditions.”
It is this that will define successful players in the coming months, he says. “The current market turmoil has only highlighted that capital is the lifeblood of every financial institution. When liquidity was plentiful, it was easy for everyone to do business. But when liquidity is scarce, the ability to provide best execution and to be nimble across markets will be absolutely paramount.”
