Institutional Investor Magazine announced the winners of its seventh annual Emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa Research Team survey.

For the third year in a row, Renaissance Capital research team was ranked No 1 in Ukraine. “They stayed the course and did a good job highlighting issues on both politics and the corporates,” recalls one buy-side backer, quoted by Institutional Investor. No firm received sufficient votes to merit publication of a second or third team.

The survey reflects opinions of more than 300 buy-side analysts and portfolio managers at more than 240 institutions, managing an estimated USD282 billion in emerging EMEA equities. It covers 15 country, industry, and macro categories. As a separate category, Ukraine was added for the first time in 2008.

"Last year was very difficult for everybody but it was exactly the time when quality research and timely advice played a pivotal role", says Peter Vanhecke, head of Renaissance Capital in Ukraine and Central and Eastern Europe. "We are extremely proud that our research team earned such a high recognition of the investor community for its hard work during those challenging times".

“The crisis meant that demand for top-level equity research was decimated,” says Roland Nash, head of research at Renaissance Capital. “Much of the expertise the firm had built over the last decade became redundant for a period of time, as clients looked first and foremost towards liquidity and safety. We made painful cuts around the periphery but kept the core team together to rebuild after that.”

Last year investors were demanding more research into fixed-¬income instruments, with an emphasis on strategy. They also wanted help in better understanding the impact the crisis had on companies that were forced to restructure. “It was a top-down call and a turn back to basics, as the valuations were crushed,” Nash recalls.

Now, Renaissance is in expansion mode again. By the end of this year, the firm plans to expand its current research head count by 50 percent, to 90 analysts, and add 100 stocks to its coverage universe.

This year Renaissance Capital repeated its last year success securing top ranked positions in all 10 categories it participated. Its research team was also ranked No 1 in Russia, for the seventh time in a row. Besides, it was ranked No 1 in Macroeconomics, Equity Strategy, Chemicals, Financials, Metals & Mining, Oil & Gas, Telecommunications, and Utilities categories.

About Institutional Investor Magazine
Now entering its fifth decade, Institutional Investor has consistently distinguished itself among the world’s foremost financial publications with ground-breaking journalism and incisive writing that provides “must read” intelligence for a global audience. This award-winning magazine is essential reading for the world’s leading financiers, corporate executives and government officials, who rely on the breadth and depth of coverage that have made Institutional Investor such a premier publication. Global circulation for the magazine which publishes two editions (Americas and International) exceeds 130,000 copies.

About Renaissance Capital
Renaissance Capital Ukraine is a leading full-service investment bank based in Kyiv and a part of Renaissance Capital, the No 1 independent investment bank in the CIS and other high-opportunity emerging markets. The company holds market-leading positions in each of its core businesses in Ukraine – financial and strategic advisory, M&A, structuring, trading, equity and debt issuance, and research.