Merrill Lynch & Co. was the leading senior manager of long-term municipal bonds in the first three quarters of 1994, taking the lead of the first time this year, according to preliminary figures compiled by Securities Data Co.
Public Resources Advisory Group was the leading financial adviser for the nine-month period, while Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe was the top bond counsel, Securities Data reported.
Merrill Lynch managed 275 issues totaling $14 billion in the first nine months of 1994, accounting for 11.2% of the $125.09 billion of municipal bonds sold during the period. That pushed it ahead of Goldman, Sachs & Co., which managed 223 issues totaling $13.09 billion, and restored the one-two ranking that the competitors held at the end of 1993. Lehman Brothers was a distant third at the end of last month, with 143 issues totaling $10.65 billion.
Goldman Sachs held its lead in the co-manager rankings, which give full credit to each manager. Goldman participated in the syndicates of 416 issues, totaling $36.98 billion. Merrill Lynch took the second spot, with 673 issues totaling $36.02 billion.
Public Resources Advisory Group, which has been the municipal market's top financial adviser since 1991, led by a wide margin at the end of the first three quarters of 1994. It was adviser for 62 issues totaling $9.65 billion, or 7.7% of the market, more than $3 billion ahead of the second-place firm, Evensen Dodge Inc.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe maintained its commanding lead in the bond counsel rankings, with 212 issues totaling $13.32 billion, or 10.6% of the market, for the year through September. That was more than the second-and third-place firms combined.
In the senior manager rankings, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs, and Lehman Brothers were trailed by Smith Barney Inc. with $9.03 billion and CS First Boston with $7.67 billion.
Rounding out the top 10 were PaineWebber Inc.; Bear, Stearns & Co.; J.P. Morgan Securities Inc.; Morgan Stanley & Co.; and Prudential Securities Inc. The same 10 firms were the leading managers at the end of 1993 and in the first half of 1994.
Among co-managers, Smith Barney was third after three quarters with $33.65 billion, followed by Lehman with $27.43 billion and PaineWebber with $26.44 billion.
Evensen Dodge, which finished 1993 in sixth place among financial advisers with $6.56 billion, was a surprisingly strong second at the end of the third quarter this year, with $6.6 billion. It was followed by Public Financial Management Inc. with $5.63 billion, O'Brien Partners Inc. with $4.65 billion, and P.G. Corbin & Co. with $3.96 billion.
Following Orrick Herrington in the bond counsel rankings was Mudge, Rose, Guthrie, Alexander & Ferdon, which had been the leading counsel in 1993. Mudge Rose was a distant second at the end of September, with $6.48 billion, followed by Hawkins, Delafield & Wood with $6.16 billion, Brown & Wood with $5.85 billion, and Chapman and Cutler with $5.15 billion.
Securities Data's rankings are preliminary and subject to revision. They are based on new issues of bonds maturing in 13 months or longer. Municipal forward sales are included, but private placements and taxable debt issued directly by private nonprofit organizations are excluded. Top Senior Managers: First 9 Months 1994 Rank Firm Amount Issues 1 Merrill Lynch & Co. 13,998,200 275 2 Goldman, Sachs & Co. 13,091,700 223 3 Lehman Brothers 10,648,400 143 4 Smith Barney Inc. 9,029,700 321 5 CS First Boston 7,665,500 104 6 PaineWebber Inc. 7,275,100 192 7 Bear, Stearns & Co. 5,725,900 82 8 J.P. Morgan Securities Inc. 4,787,200 63 9 Morgan Stanley & Co. 4,456,200 49 10 Prudential Securities Inc. 4,409,900 172 Dollar amounts are in thousands. Short-term notes maturing in 12months or less, private placements and bonds sold by privatenonprofit organizations are excluded. Each firm is credited withthe full par value for each issue in which it served assenior manager. Source: Securities Data Co. Top Comanagers: First 9 Months 1994 Rank Firm Amount Issues 1 Goldman, Sachs & Co. 36,979,000 416 2 Merrill Lynch & Co. 36,021,200 673 3 Smith Barney Inc. 33,651,600 870 4 Lehman Brothers 27,430,500 313 5 PaineWebber Inc. 26,435,000 566 6 Bear, Stearns & Co. 24,305,600 255 7 CS First Boston 24,208,000 219 8 Morgan Stanley & Co. 19,696,300 162 9 Prudential Securities Inc. 19,161,600 570 10 Kidder, Peabody & Co. 17,918,700 328 Dollar amounts are in thousands. Short-term notes maturing in 12months or less, private placements and bonds sold by privatenonprofit organizations are excluded. Each firm is credited withthe full par value for each issue in which it served as solecounsel or co-counsel. Top Financial Advisers: First 9 Months 1994 Rank Firm Amount Issues 1 Public Resources Advisory Group 9,651,500 62 2 Evensen-Dodge Inc. 6,602,600 205 3 Public Financial Management Inc. 5,632,800 145 4 O'Brien Partners Inc. 4,650,900 57 5 P.G. Corgin & Co. 3,962,000 56 6 Rauscher Pierce Refsnes Inc. 3,331,600 163 7 First Southwest Co. 1,862,600 178 8 Alex, Brown & Sons Inc. 1,548,000 19 9 WR Lazard & Co. 1,443,200 10 10 Ponder & Co. 1,442,100 41 Dollar amounts are in thousands. Short-term notes maturing in 12months or less, private placements and bonds sold by privatenonprofit organizations are excluded. Each firm is credited withthe full par value for each issue in which it served as soleadviser or co-adviser.
