In winning this year's award EFG Hermes Research, one of the business lines of EFG-Hermes Holding (HRHO.CA), has once again managed to hold on to the top spot for five out of the six years that the award has been running, a feat that clearly sets it ahead of the competition. "Striving for excellence is a given, but in today's agile business environment it's more than just a game of knowledge and expertise. Today, being number one means being the first to meet client demand," said Wael Ziada, Head of Research at EFG Hermes. "The needs of our clients are constantly evolving, therefore our job is first and foremost to define and meet those needs," he added. Competing against a well-rounded list of regional and international research houses including HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and JP Morgan, EFG Hermes remains the regional and international investors' research provider of choice. Based on the direct polling of investors, the Euromoney poll is a testament to the quality, insight, breadth of coverage and timeliness of EFG Hermes' wide range of research services and products. A key differentiator for EFG Hermes Research is its highly experienced team of analysts, which features more analysts "on the ground" than any of its regional competitors. The Team also benefits from its presence in major regional centres including Cairo, Dubai, Riyadh and Muscat, offering an international standard research approach with local flavours. "Our award-winning group of analysts is dedicated to being the first in the market to offer unparalleled access, reach and coverage to the MENA region," said Ziada."As our coverage universe expands each year, our product offering is also evolving to better meet the needs of our clients," he added. Currently, EFG Hermes covers around 60% of regional market capitalization, with coverage reaching 138companies in 3Q, 2012, distributed across the region. The research department also covers 11 regional economies from a macro standpoint and provides regular strategy and equity notes for nine countries. The Euromoney award comes just months after EFG Hermes launched the largest online MENA markets research portal earlier this year. Research Online provides clients with one-stop access to all EFG Hermes Research products, including equity, industry, economy and strategy coverage and supporting data.
