Danske Markets, part of Denmark’s largest domestic bank Danske Bank, won the prize last year but was now demoted to number two.
“I’m pleased to see a close race between among the Nordic research firms. SEB Enskilda have been close to the top on several occasions but this is the first time in the DIRF Broker Award’s 15-year history that SEB Enskilda have won the main prize,” DIRF chairman Michael von Bülow said at the awards ceremony.
Nordea, Carnegie and Handelsbanken claimed the number three, four and five spots behind SEB Enskilda and Danske Markets.
While SEB Enskilda scored well in all categories, a particular stronghold was the investment bank’s ability to arrange investor meetings and so called road shows where companies and investors meet.
According to Niels Granholm-Leth, head of equity research at SEB Enskilda in Denmark, the department in Copenhagen has been in a build-up phase over the past two years and the reward is reflecting that SEB Enskilda analysts have improved relations to the companies they cover, which in turn is vital element in order to be a speaking partner for institutional investors.
“The closer relationships with companies covered by the research department should also be a door opener for other departments in SEB and hence help extend our overall business engagement with the Danish companies,” Granholm-Leth says.