The best prime brokers left standing

The prime brokerage industry has undergone some seismic shifts, and we're starting to see a post-credit crunch new order emerge from the rubble. While Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley were once the two big dogs, they have been hit hard by a move by hedge funds to diversify their holdings among multiple primes, a move that was accelerated by the credit crunch.

According to Global Custodian's annual survey (as reported by FINalternatives), 43.6 percent said they had reduced their balances with Goldman Sachs; 70.2 percent said the same for Morgan Stanley. So the big two seem to be losing their grip. (We're unsure exactly what Morgan's intentions are in this market. But it seems to want to reassert itself in some ways.) For what it's worth, the top five prime brokers according to the survey were, in order, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Citi Prime Finance, J.P. Morgan and Barclays Capital Prime Services. The survey does not take size into account. Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley came in 7th and 8th. 

For more:
- here's the FINalternatives article

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