Goldman Sachs top dog in survey

Andrew Barclay

Some documents marked "confidential" turn up in a journalist's lap after falling off the back of a truck.

This one is more likely to have dropped out of a passing Ferrari.

It's the survey by market research company Peter Lee Associates that reveals how New Zealand corporates rate the investment banks that advise on big-money deals.

This year, 18 corporates - including Telecom, Carter Holt Harvey, Fletcher Building and Fonterra - took part.

They especially like Goldman Sachs JBWere.

It is named as the most outstanding firm by reputation for advice on equity capital markets.

Its reputation for mergers and acquisitions is first equal with First NZ Capital.

It also sits alongside Deutsche Bank at the top of what Peter Lee, the man behind the market research, described as the single most important measure: the "relationship strength index".

He said Goldman Sachs "came out strongly as the leading firm" in the survey, but he cautioned that the sample was small.

Andrew Barclay and David Cameron-Brown took over as co-heads of investment banking at JBWere in late 2003 when the firm was merging with global giant Goldman Sachs.

Barclay is known for relationships with clients such as Guinness Peat Group's Tony Gibbs, CanWest and Vector.

Elsewhere, Cameron & Co was again named best boutique adviser, followed by Bancorp.

The average fee reported for merger and acquisition activity was $4.2 million - more than 15 per cent up on the previous high of $3.6 million in 2002.

The average fee for advice about raising funds on the sharemarket was $1 million - down on the previous year's $1.1 million.