Market sources say Christopher Combe willcontinue to follow European transportation stocks, a category that includes thelikes of AP Moller-Maersk, after passing the reins.
Mani, who appears to be based in Manhattan,assumed coverage of Costamare, GasLog, Navios Maritime Holdings, NaviosMaritime Partners, Navios Maritime Acquisition, Teekay Tankers and TeekayOffshore Partners.
Wall Street sources tell TradeWinds thatCombe will continue to confer with Mani during the transition and don’t expectany drastic ratings changes to materialise in the near-term.
Combe re-initiated research coverage ofUS-listed shipping stocks on behalf of JP Morgan in late 2011, which marked theend of a brief hiatus that followed the departure of long-time incumbentJonathan Chappell and colleague Darrin Hicks, who left to join EvercorePartners.
Today, several of Combe’s peers say theywere not surprised when the revelation first came to light late last week sinceit seemed to them that the forecaster was stretched too thin, a thesis they basedon the frequency of his research notes and size of his coverage universe.
One rival claims he and his shipping teamplan to actively monitor the frequency, depth and accuracy of Mani’s maritime tipsin the coming months under a broader effort to gauge JP Morgan’s appetite fordeals and overall commitment to the space.
While there has been a sharp spike in capitalmarket activity over the past several months the same source pointed out that competitionremains fierce and believes the big-ticket deals that Wall Streetheavyweights like JP Morgan prefer to target are still few and far between.
JP Morgan has collected a number oftombstones in Oslo and New York, however, since the start of 2014. At last check the listof deals included the initial public offerings of both Avance Gas and DorianLPG, whose debut US listing is also backed by UBS.
UBS initiated coverage of the tanker andgas-carrier segments earlier this month. Joshua Katzeff stamped shares ofScorpio Tankers, DHT Holdings, StealthGas and Tsakos Energy Navigation with “buy”ratings while Navios Maritime Acquisition and Teekay Tankers were graded “hold”.
