Industry surprise at Nordea's choice to buy in S&P research

Nordea has taken an unprecedented step into the world of independent research by outsourcing all of its equity research to Standard & Poor's. The move, which has taken the industry by surprise, is in response to a growing view that sell-side research is commercially suspect and of doubtful use in adding value to a portfolio. Geoff Hawksworth, managing director of Standard & Poor's in Europe, said: "This is the first time that a bank has contracted to buy all its traditional equity research from an independent provider. It is a bold and imaginative approach to tackling a problem that man...