1.   Analysts such as Willard have a higher profile on Wall Street these days, having moved beyond stock picking to helping investment bankers win lucrative underwriting assignments.

2.   Smith Barney rarely competed with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs for underwriting assignments from the biggest U.S. companies.

3.   The company has already benefited from the merger in hiring new brokers and being awarded some underwriting assignments from companies in the U.S., said Fisher.

4.   Those rankings are important to investment bankers because they use them as weapons in battles for underwriting assignments.