Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, the two firms that dominated the European IPO market last year, have emerged among the worst performers in a survey by Financial News of the post-issue performance of IPOs in 2000. The two firms are now paying the price for their success in winning some of last year's biggest telecoms, technology and internet IPOs.

The average performance in the aftermarket of the 19 IPOs led by Goldman last year was -23.2%, while Morgan Stanley's 20 deals posted an average fall of -16.9%. When the performance is weighted by the size of each IPO, Goldman's deals dropped by 20.7%, while Morgan Stanley's fell by more than 37%.