Research is still the second most important factor for fund managers when they choose brokers – even though unbundling means it should not exert influence on their decisions and the costs should be kept separate.
Just over half of respondents (in the EFN buyside survey) said brokers provided them with technology or systems free, raising the possibility the technology is being financed indirectly out of dealing commissions, that fund managers’ efforts to achieve best execution are being compromised and that brokers are, effectively, inducing clients to trade with them by supplying them with technology.
Asset managers are concentrating their equity trading with a limited number of brokers. On average, 44% of order flow goes to fund managers’ top three choices – and one in three respondents said that the top group’s share had increased in the past year.
Full article here
Mostly... fixed income and cross product eTrading 
Guess this is heavily equities influenced Holky?
I wish they’d break these down by Asset Class & buyside type. I’ll bet a hedge fund following a rates based strategy isn’t in the Top 2!
Comment by waratah — May 23, 2007 @ 12:33 pm
OK, I’m never happy but I really think financial markets journalism is, in general, rubbish. You rarely get any real insight…..am I wrong?
Read some of the Market Reports on Reuters or Bloomberg…..and you find simple tosh thrown out to satisfy editorial guidelines. How do the guys writing this stuff put up with it?
Then you get senior jounos with there opinion pieces where they thinly veil their contempt for the market and people they’re writing about! They’re either closet communists or filled with frustration that they’re not on the “gravy train”.
Compare it to Political or Sports journalism. There is plenty of rubbish there also but there is also some absolute brilliance!
I feel a better researched, i.e. actual facts???, blog coming on!!! 🙂
Comment by waratah — May 23, 2007 @ 1:05 pm