Osman Semerci, head of Merrill Lynch's newly formed fixed income, currencies and commodities division, is the top rising star in Europe's capital markets, according to the second annual ranking compiled by Financial News.

Semerci heads the list of the 100 most talented in the securities industry under 40, with Anthony Clake, a 26-year-old partner at hedge fund Marshall Wace, second, and Simon Smith, the 34-year-old deputy head of European investment banking at Morgan Stanley, third. Three of the top 10 work in the private equity industry, reflecting the influence buyout firms have had on the markets. Lyndon Lea, the 38-year-old head of Lion Capital, was the highest ranked, in fourth position. In a record year for European mergers and acquisitions, investment bankers accounted for most positions, with 20 representatives. Of the 12 women on the list, Carolina Minio-Paluello, 36, head of quantitative resources at Goldman Sachs Asset Management, was highest, at eighth. Sixteen of the rising stars are under 30 and the two youngest are 24 – James Strong, an equity derivatives broker at Link Asset & Securities, and Emilie Goodall, an analyst at New Philanthropy Capital. Semerci, 39, described as "ice cold" and "single-minded" by colleagues, was third last year when he was head of global markets for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at Merrill Lynch. In July, he was promoted to run its new fixed income, currencies and commodities business, which is expected to drive investment banking profits through greater focus on areas such as proprietary trading, in which it has lagged rivals. Second-placed Clake was the youngest member of the rising stars last year and is the architect of Marshall Wace's Trade Optimised Portfolio System, which has been driving growth and performance at the hedge fund for the past few years. The system tracks the trading recommendations of brokers and invests according to the best. The firm runs $5.5bn (€4.2bn) in long and short equity strategies based on Tops, and last week raised a further €1bn ($1.3bn) for the initial public offering of its MW Tops fund, based on Clake's system, which will be the biggest listed closed-end hedge fund when it starts trading this week. Smith was the highest new entry, having been appointed second-in-command to Franck Petitgas, head of investment banking at Morgan Stanley, in March. An unassuming banker from the northeast of England, Smith is rated by colleagues as the best investment banker of his generation. UBS was the bank with the most rising stars. The top-ranked UBS banker was Mateen Ahmed, head of global credit strategies, a proprietary trading business. Ahmed, 38, is known for making big, usually successful, bets in the credit markets. The rising stars list is published in full on Financial News Online, and in Brummell, the lifestyle magazine distributed with today's Financial News. Nominations were gathered over the past three months by the Financial News editorial team. More than 300 candidates were assessed on four criteria: achievements to date given their age (breakthrough); the stature of people who have guided or influenced their career (mentor); the assets or resources at their disposal (firepower); and the likelihood of them reaching a position of power in the industry (potential).