Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein has scaled back its global ambitions and is hoping that its new pan-European look will help it weather the current broking and investment banking maelstrom. It will place more emphasis on product niche areas and core countries in order to boost revenues and sharpen its client focus.

DrKW, which is owned by German insurer Allianz, had no choice but to rethink its strategy. Its efforts to build a global business had not borne fruit. It was difficult to compete against the well-entrenched bulge-bracket players and their large US client bases. The firm needed a new direction in order to stay the distance, especially if it wanted to survive the prolonged bear market. The result has been a restructuring of its capital markets group, with the merger of its debt and equities businesses. Cash sales and trading remain separate, but DrKW has combined product lines, such as research, derivatives, quantitative analytics and risk management.