Stockbroking and advisory firm Shaw and Partners has sealed a research distribution deal with Swiss investment bank UBS.

Street Talk understands from December 1 Shaws advisors will have full access to UBS's Australian and global research, as well as a direct line to speak with UBS analysts on the stocks they cover.

The announcement was made by Shaws head of research Andrew Hines in an email sent to staff on Thursday afternoon and seen by this column.

"Shaw and Partners will have access to all UBS Australian and global research for our advisors via the UBS Research Web Portal," Hines said.

"We will also have access to access to arguably Australia’s best ASX200 Research team."

The distribution deal doesn't mean Shaws will be dis-banding its own research arm.

Hines said the firm would still put together in-house research, however it had been "pivoting away from large cap research towards small/mid cap research", which would gel well with UBS's offering.

While there would be a bit of overlap with some of companies covered, for the most part the Swiss bank didn't provide research in the small/mid-cap space where Shaws had shifted its focus.

"This is an exciting development for Shaw and Partners, and catapults our research capability into the very top tier," the announcement said.

"The combination of UBS’ global and ASX200 research, with Shaw and Partners’ mid-cap coverage will be unparalleled in the Australian market."

Article source, AFR, 26 November 2020