BJM tops SA rankings for investment analysts

Barnard Jacobs Mellet (BJM), South Africa’s largest independent stock broker, has entrenched its position as the investment research leader by dominating the 2008 Analyst of the Year Awards.

The company was ranked first in 10 sectors, including the overall investment strategy category. It is believed to be the biggest haul of No. 1 rankings by any stock broker and investment research house in the South African market.

BJM was also rated first for Dealing Equities, first for Unweighted Equity Research and second for Weighted Research.

In addition to representation in Johannesburg, Durban, Cape Town and George, the Company has subsidiaries in London and Stamford, Connecticut. BJM is also an international research partner of Lehman Brothers.

The awards, announced at the end of May, gave BJM #1 rankings for: Platinum, Non-life assurance, Life assurance, Beverages, Retailers and household goods, Support services and packaging, Diversified industrials and transportation, Computer services, Quantitative analysis, and Strategy.

Jan van Staden, CEO at BJM Private Client Services noted: “In the current period of high market volatility and high inflation, authoritative investment research is increasingly vital if wealth is to be protected.

“Ranking honours were taken by no less than 19 of our investment analysts. In all, we have rankings in 28 different categories. This means we have proven, independently verified expertise in almost every area of the economy.

“The awards are pleasing for BJM and the investment professionals in our team, but the real winners are our clients. Whether they are independently wealthy individuals, pensioners or institutional, they now have undisputed confirmation that their assets are being managed with the utmost professionalism and expertise.”