At Citi we are committed to providing quality research coupled with independent ideas. In economic, equity, quantitative, and fixed income research, Citi is a global leader.

In Australia and New Zealand our research team is highly regarded for combining global expertise with a wealth of local knowledge. Citi Investment Research & Analysis's award-winning equity analysts provide comprehensive research reports on more than 200 local companies. Globally we cover some 3,000 securities in 51 countries. Our seasoned quantitative research group provides state-of-the-art modelling and analysis.

Citi's fixed-income analysts follow 2,000 issuers worldwide. In the local market, they are consistently ranked at the top of their field.

Economics

Our Economic and Market Analysis group is a globally integrated team of economists that provides comprehensive coverage of political and economic forces and their impact on financial markets. From daily commentaries to special reports, our economists cut through vast tracts of data to identify the issues that will affect investment decisions.

They work closely with equity research strategists to develop the firm's view on macroeconomic issues and global trends. Our historical database and quantitative systems rank among the best in the world. Global quantitative researchers, based in five major financial markets around the world, advise hundreds of institutional investors on risk analysis, portfolio optimisation, asset allocation, stock rotation and derivatives.

Fixed Income Research

Citi established the first fixed income research department on Wall Street. Today the department ranks as the industry leader.

From relative value analysis to in-depth research, our fixed income team delivers unparalleled insights into the corporate credit market.

The coverage ranges from analysis of Australian corporate credits, Australian Government and semi-government bonds, to corporate, macro-economic and international credit research. The fixed income team also works very closely with our global network of economists to provide investors with professional top-down investment intelligence. This ensures quality information is aggregated, from both domestic and international sources, and disseminated succinctly, to provide investors with a crucial framework for sound financial decision making.

Equities

The mandate for Citi Investment Research & Analysis is to provide timely, pro-active, proprietary, money-making research ideas for use by our investing client base, be they institutional equity investor clients of Citi or retail investor clients of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.

In Australasia, Citi Investment Research & Analysis undertakes stock market analysis on 200 listed companies, representing coverage of ninety percent of the combined Australian and New Zealand Stock Exchanges, as measured by market capitalisation. We employ 30 sector analysts, 15 research associates and 15 support staff, while another 10 analysts look at top-down analysis covering strategy, economics, politics and quantitative methods. Our analysts have a wide range of backgrounds spanning chartered accounting, finance, treasury, funds management and industry.

We publish a number of products ranging from our Portfolio Strategist, to economic updates through to in-depth individual company and sector reports, as well as daily updates on all major macro and company specific events.

Globally, Citi Investment Research & Analysis employs over 300 analysts covering 2,290 companies across the United States, UK/Europe, Asia, Japan, South Africa, Eastern Europe and Latin America. We regularly receive top rankings in industry and investment media for the quality of our research, the accuracy of our stock picks and superior customer service to our investing clients.

One of our key competitive advantages is being able to rely upon high quality research from our overseas colleagues in order to make valuation comparatives as well as to track the increasingly global span of a number of Australasian companies in terms of both their operations and end markets. We do this as part of an ongoing commitment to delivering research and investment advice which is as relevant as possible to an increasingly global investor base.

One of our key goals is to maintain non-consensus, objective research. The analyst's job of forecasting is a difficult one, subject to public debate by the media and investors. It is comfortable to find safe harbor by echoing consensus opinion or taking management's word at face value. We fight this tendency on a daily basis. We reward analysts who stand out from the crowd; who conduct thoughtful, thorough analysis; and who get the call right. The successful analyst at Citi Investment Research & Analysis does not take short cuts in research, but does take risks.

This is all conducted within an unerring commitment to independence. The firm leads the industry in establishing policies and best practices to ensure analyst objectivity in the capital formation process. Our policies allow Citi analysts to identify transactions beneficial to investors while maintaining independence and objectivity.

A global platform, a world-class research culture, supported by the best in client service is at the core of the value created by Citi Investment Research & Analysis.


Citi Investment Research & Analysis is made available in Australia to wholesale clients through Citigroup Global Markets Australia Pty Limited (ABN 64 003 114 832 and AFSL No. 240992) and to retail clients through Morgan Stanley Smith Barney Pty Ltd (ABN 19 009 145 555 and AFSL No. 240813), Participants of the ASX Group and regulated by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. The Product is made available in Australia to Private Banking wholesale clients through Citigroup Pty Limited (ABN 88 004 325 080 and AFSL 238098). While information in this Site might include excerpts, abstracts, or other summary material derived from Citi Investment Research & Analysis reports readers are directed to the original research report or note to review the Research Analyst's full analysis of the subject company. Important disclosures relating to the companies that are the subject of research reports or notes published by Citi Investment Research& Analysis are available at www.citigroupgeo.com.