UBS, Deutsche Bank, Thomson Financial Top Europe-wide Poll of Investor Relations Chiefs

Business Wire, June 18, 2007

LONDON -- The UBS corporate access team and Deutsche Bank's corporate broking team offer the best investor relations services among the major investment banks, according to the IR Directors of Europe's largest companies.

The findings come from a survey of IR directors at 235 leading European firms including 40 per cent of the FTSE 100. The research was conducted by Real IR magazine and CommunicateResearch.

UBS's corporate access team had the most positive score with a net favourability rating of 61 per cent. As one respondent said: "UBS has the best skills in planning investor meetings, obtaining pre-briefing materials and getting feedback". Four other banks received a net favourability rating of more than 50 per cent (in order): Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Deutsche Bank.

Deutsche Bank's corporate broking team had the most positive score with a net favourability rating of 57 per cent. Three other banks received a net favourability rating of more than 50 per cent (in order): Merrill Lynch, Citigroup and Morgan Stanley.

"European companies rely heavily on the corporate access and broking teams of investment banks to get them face-to-face meetings with the right investors," said Dawn Cowie, editor of Real IR, Europe's leading magazine for IR professionals. Although the banks provide valuable services, they still have work to do convincing corporate clients that they are serving companies' interests, not their own."

Thomson Financial is by far the most favoured fee-based provider of investor relations services. The company had the most positive score with a net favourability rating of 38 per cent. In joint second place were CapitalBridge and Makinson Cowell with net favourability ratings of 22 per cent.

"Given the vast array of free IR services available from investment banks, fee-based IR providers have their work cut out convincing IR professionals that their services offer a genuine return on investment. For many smaller consultancies, though, the biggest hurdle is raising their profile in the IR community," added Dawn Cowie, editor of Real IR.

Note to editors:

Who Serves the IR Director? (2007) is based on an online survey of investor relations professionals at European large-cap companies. It contains detailed analysis of what IR professionals expect from their service providers and which firms they plan to use for IR support in the future.

235 IR professionals took part in the survey. Of the sample, 50 per cent worked in companies with a market capitalisation greater than $5bn. Forty per cent were from the FTSE-100.

Who Serves the IR Director? (2007) is now on sale at a price of PS500 VAT. For more details, contact Real IR, Caspian Publishing, 198 King's Road, London SW3 5XP.

Tel 44 (0)20 7368 7121 or email Ben Brougham at ben@realir.net.