26 April, 2006

Munis team ends first quarter on a high by taking top spot

The Investment Bank recently finished No. 1 among tax-exempt underwriters for the first quarter 2006, according to data released by Thomson Financial.

The news that UBS sold US$7.88bn in municipal debt through 156 issues, surpassing Citigroup Global Markets Inc., was highlighted in an article in The Bond Buyer.

UBS was recognized in part for underwriting 77% more debt in the general purpose sector than it did in the same quarter last year, increasing its market share to 12% from 5% a year ago, despite a 33% decline in issuance for that sector.


25 April, 2006

UBS vies for top spot in All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team poll

The Investment Bank has shot up two places to rank second in Institutional Investor (II) magazine's 2006 All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team poll, with 11 team positions. The results build on last year's strong performance, when UBS moved from sixth to fourth.

Within the poll, UBS again took the number-one positions for Overall Research (excluding High Yield) and High Grade Credit Research, with all senior credit analysts achieving II rankings.

Consistent with top-ranked positions in other polls, the High Grade team achieved first-team rankings in Insurance and Telecoms, second-team rankings in Autos, Utilities, and Quasi-Sovereign and Supranational Borrowers, and third-team rankings in Banks, Consumer Products and Industrials.

Additionally, contributing to the firm's overall result was a first-team ranking in Emerging Market Corporates, a third-team ranking in Emerging Market Sovereigns and a runner-up position in Investment Grade Credit Strategy.


18 April, 2006

IDD article hails the growth of UBS’s Prime Brokerage business

The cover story of this month's Investment Dealers' Digest (IDD) is a highly positive account of how the Investment Bank has built up its Prime Brokerage business in recent years. Alex Ehrlich, the firm's global head of Prime Services, along with the three regional Prime Brokerage heads - Dick Del Bello (U.S.), Rob Munro (Europe), and Matt Pecot (Asia), are leading the client charge for UBS in each of our key geographic markets.

In the article, Ehrlich outlines how a client-centric approach is informing the firm's prime brokerage strategy. "We think prime brokerage means different things to different types of hedge funds," he says. "We want to figure out how to segment our clients so as to deliver a coherent and strong service to each type."

That means helping start-ups achieve their ambitions, providing large funds with financing, a strong balance sheet and speedy execution, and being the house of choice for middle-sized players moving into the next stage of their development.

The Investment Bank's president, Ken Moelis, is also quoted in the article. Of the firm's approach to risk management, he says: "We believe we have the best risk management in the world - we are aware of our exposure, and we very actively manage it."

IDD cites statistics that put UBS fourth globally for prime brokerage in 2004, with an 8% market share, and quotes a partner at hedge fund FrontPoint Capital, who says: "UBS is now a real competitor."


18 April, 2006

UBS ahead of the rest in growing market for convertibles

Convertible issuance is experiencing a renaissance, and the Investment Bank is at the forefront of this growing market.

UBS finished the first quarter of 2006 as the number one-ranked underwriter of US equity-linked securities. UBS had a 21% market share, as measured by Dealogic, after bookrunning five transactions for a total of US$2.9bn.

In the most recent example, the Investment Bank acted as joint dealer-manager on ArvinMeritor's US$600m waterfall tender offer as part of the automotive supplier's restructuring of its debt portfolio. UBS also acted as sole bookrunner on a concurrent US$300m convertible bond offering, the proceeds of which were used to fund part of the tender.

In another notable transaction in the first quarter, the Investment Bank priced a record-breaking bond when it acted as sole bookrunner on a US$2.2bn 18-month mandatory exchangeable note into Time Warner, backed by a privately-negotiated equity derivative hedging arrangement with an institutional client. The issue marked the largest mandatory ever issued in the US market, and the largest structured equity derivative transaction with a corporate or institutional investor on a single stock.

UBS also finished the quarter as number four in the US all equity league table, its highest position to date.

17 April, 2006

Airfinance Journal awards recognize UBS for its creative approach to deals

Leading industry publication Airfinance Journal has recognized two aviation structured finance transactions the Investment Bank completed in 2005 with two of the most prestigious awards in the aircraft finance industry.

UBS-led Aviation Capital Group's acquisition financing of Boullioun Aviation Services and the subsequent ACG Trust III securitization was hailed as ‘Editor's Deal of the Year', while WEST 2005-1, the first-ever engine securitization for Willis Lease Finance Corp. (WLFC), was named ‘Overall Deal of the Year'.

The magazine said it had recognized firms such as UBS for being more creative and taking more risks in a year that saw banks moving away from simply restructuring deals to instead creating new ones.

UBS structured and co-arranged the ACG acquisition finance facility, and within six months led the refinancing of most of the facility, with the largest securitization since 1996. With the sale of WEST and ACG III bonds, UBS opened up the sale of aviation-related structured debt without a wrap.


14 April, 2006

Fund managers vote UBS top stockbroker in the Philippines

UBS Securities Philippines was voted ‘Best Stockbroker in the Philippines' for a third year running, according to an annual poll by fund managers.

UBS was voted first among the Philippines' 132 stock brokerages, in the survey by the Fund Managers Association of the Philippines (FMAP). The firm ranked first in six of the 15 categories for stockbrokers, including best analyst and research, and managed 10.2% of the stock market's PHP635m (US$12.4m) worth of transactions last year.

Members of FMAP include all of the local Philippine trust banks, insurance companies, and pension funds in its survey. UBS was the only financial institution ranked in the top three without an onshore presence in the local Philippine peso fixed-income market.

Stephen Cheng, head of Asia-Pacific Credit Research, was named ‘Best Foreign Strategist', while Jody Santiago, head of Philippines Research, was ranked 'Number One Equity Analyst' for a third consecutive year. Sandra Agdamag was among the top three in ‘Best Foreign Sales', while Marcus Corrigan ranked in the top three in ‘Best Foreign Sales Trading'.

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