Merrill Lynch has taken the axe to its investment trust coverage, even though the trust team was ranked number one by companies in the Reuters 2001 brokers survey.
Merrill will no longer make markets in about 90% of the trusts it covers and is firing "a handful" of the 15-strong trust team. The rest will be reassigned to other areas athough its two best-known brokers, Charles Cade and Philip Middleton, will carry on covering a handful of selected trusts.
