EFG Hermes has been ranked the top research house in the region in global business magazine Euromoney’s Second Annual Middle East Equity Research Poll. This is the second year the firm’s research department has topped the Euromoney survey. The EFG Hermes research team collected seven first-place finishes, two more than the next-best finisher. The Euromoney poll, conducted in May and June of this year, asked 195 portfolio and fund managers in regional and international financial centers which analysts are providing the best research coverage of the region’s listed companies. “We’re obviously pleased with the poll results, which confirm our position as the premier provider of quality analysis on regional markets,” says Head of Research Eiji Aono, who recently joined EFG Hermes after co-heading the top-ranked telecom equipment equity research team at Credit Suisse in London. Aono had previously held positions in equity research at both Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. The EFG Hermes research team ranked number one in categories including banking and finance, cement, leisure and tourism, pharmaceuticals, real estate, telecoms and economics. By leading the poll with seven first-place finishes in fourteen categories, EFG Hermes notched up two more first-place awards than the next-leading competitor. In addition, the EFG Hermes team placed in the top three in thirteen of the poll’s fourteen categories, underscoring the strength and breadth the firm’s research offering. “The continued growth in the Middle Eastern financial markets is one of the most exciting elements of the international capital markets,” says Euromoney magazine Managing Director Simon Brady. “Euromoney is delighted to be able to give the region’s growing community of investors more insight into which banks / brokers are leading the way in providing this crucial service to the market.” This is the second accolade EFG Hermes has won from Euromoney in as many months: In mid-June, the magazine named the firm its Best Equity House in Egypt at the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2008. That nod came just one month after EFG Hermes became the first investment bank in the Middle East to close simultaneous IPOs after the firm managed offers from Maridive & Oil Services and Palm Hills Development.