Morgan Stanley's Foreign Exchange (FX) group swept the major categories of the Foreign Exchange Survey in the March issue of Global Investor magazine. Taking 12 first place awards and seven second place awards out of 24 categories, FX garnered more praise than any other institution from hedge fund and investment managers.

Spurred by favorable conditions with a falling dollar and central bank policy, investors turned to Morgan Stanley for expertise and quality of service. Global Investor noted the shift to client focus in the foreign exchange services: "With increasing commoditisation in the FX market, being competitive on price is no longer enough to satisfy asset managers. Instead, investment banks are keen to stress how focused they are on getting closer to managers, the better to understand their needs."

With "Best FX Service Overall" leading the pack, Morgan Stanley took first place awards including:

• Overall
• Most Improved
• Best FX Service as voted by 100 largest investors
• Europe Real Money
• North America Real Money
• Best Research in Developed Market Currencies
• Best Trading in Developed Market Currencies
• Best Advice on Spot Trading
• Best Daily Research
• Best Economic Research
• Most Comprehensive Sales Coverage

The Firm ranked second in the following categories:

• Best Trading in Emerging Markets
• Best Advice on Options Trading
• Best Technical Analysis Research
• Best Risk Management Services
• Best Online Research Web site for FX
• Best Single Bank Platform

In a memo distributed to FID employees, the results of the survey were attributed to "the culmination of a huge team effort among operations, technology, research, strategy, trading and sales."