James Montier, the Société Générale equity strategist known for comparing investors to sheep and the efficient markets hypothesis to a dead parrot, has quit for a job on the buyside amid a substantial scaling back of research by investment banks.

Montier, who earlier this month won Europe's best strategist title in the Thomson Extel survey for the fifth year in a row, has developed a cult following among bankers and investors for his alternative take on financial market trends.