It was a turbulent year in Emerging EMEA equities, according to the region’s top sales and corporate access providers.

“Emerging EMEA equities have had a volatile first half, underperforming the rest of emerging markets,” confirmed Camille Asmar, head of Equity Sales for Europe and Emerging Markets at HSBC.

The year began quite strongly, supported by attractive valuations, improving domestic fundamentals and the broader rotation into the EM asset class, notably equities, before the conflict in the Middle East began, he added.

“Then the associated geopolitical risk premium, along with an increase in oil and commodity prices, triggered a sharp correction, particularly in the region’s most exposed markets,” Asmar said.

The recent ceasefire announcement and subsequent moderation in geopolitics and commodity prices have since supported a significant recovery, although equities performance has remained highly differentiated, with attention increasingly shifting towards idiosyncratic emerging markets, such as the Central European 3 (CE3).

This ever-changing environment reinforced the importance of sales teams being on the ground in these markets. “During periods of volatility and geopolitical uncertainty, clients place a premium on local access and insights, particularly in the Middle East, where our teams on the ground have remained, staying safe, resilient and close to clients while fully engaged throughout, which is highly commendable,” Asmar said.

Respondents to Extel’s 2026 Emerging EMEA Sales ranking agreed as they have once again voted HSBC the number one provider based on the responses from 331 buy-side money managers at 223 firms.

Respondents were asked to consider six attributes when ranking sales teams in the region: adding value to research, global context, idea generation, market knowledge and feel, service and responsiveness, and understanding client needs.

There was little movement further down the leaderboard. J.P. Morgan once again repeated its second-place finish, followed by BofA Securities in third. Morgan Stanley remained in fourth. The exception was UBS, which improved upon last year’s tenth place finish to round out the top five in this year’s data.

In addition to its on-the-ground presence, Asmar credited his team’s performance to collaboration across the firm, including its research arm (where HSBC once again tied for first place in Extel’s ranking). “What we see investors require in moments such as these is a broker with local presence, strong corporate and banking relationships, and credible research coverage—and that is exactly where I believe HSBC stands out,” he said. “We have leaned even more into high-touch coverage, differentiated local insights, helping clients navigate the region with confidence.”

In Emerging EMEA, consistency, trust, and strong relationships and partnerships with clients differentiate the top sales teams in the region.  “We have been ranked number one by Extel for well over a decade, reflecting not only the quality of our franchise but also the tenure of the team and the credibility we have built with clients over many years,” Asmar said. “The high level of trust and collaboration we have with clients is critical in a complex region like Emerging EMEA.”

Participants in Extel’s 2026 Emerging EMEA Research Providers and 2026 Emerging EMEA Executive Team Surveys were also asked to give feedback on the firms they believe are providing the best corporate access in the region.

The volatility of the region had investors staying with a cadre of veteran firms. This year’s results mirrored last year’s with BofA Securities once again taking first place followed by HSBC in second. J.P. Morgan was third again. Morgan Stanley and EFG Hermes repeated their fourth and fifth places, respectively.

Demand continues to grow in all areas of corporate access, according to Eric Lopez, head of European equity research at BofA Securities, and the firm’s calendar is full of a myriad of corporate access activities.

Lopez credited his team’s performance on the ability to both enhance existing events while adding new ones. “While we always look to innovate and create new events, we also focus on enhancing our existing events via greater corporate participation and incorporating higher-value content such as industry experts,” he said.

For HSBC, corporate Access is an integral part of its overall Emerging EMEA offering and client demand has remained robust, but it has become much more selective and event-driven, reflecting the volatility across the region, reported Asmar. “Our role as ever is to stay close to both investors and corporates, and to make sure we are connecting the right institutional clients with the right corporate management teams at the right time—demonstrating the value of our local presence and relationships on the ground. As a result, our client offering has become even more focused, bespoke and responsive.”