Morgan Stanley finished top in credit products overall in Risk Magazine's 2011 Institutional Investor Rankings, which were published in the June 2011 issue. The Firm also swept the No. 1 spots in single-name credit default swaps, credit derivatives indexes and tranches, and other structured credit and correlation products across the Americas, Europe and Asia.

Morgan Stanley's improved performance in this year's survey was most notable in credit products overall, a category in which the Firm placed fourth last year, and single-name credit default swaps, a category in which the Firm rose to No. 1 from No. 5 in the Americas, No. 4 in Europe and No. 3 in Asia.

The survey results are based on 391 responses from asset managers, hedge funds, pension firms and insurance companies around the globe. The Risk Magazine editors noted that the poll does not necessarily reflect volumes traded in any particular market because voters could base their decisions on a variety of criteria including pricing, liquidity provision, counterparty risk, speed of execution and reliability. For this reason, the editors concluded that the poll should be considered a reflection of how buy-side firms view dealers in terms of overall quality of service.