Since the profound change that took place in the role of sponsor a few years ago, opinions are divided about the worth of the position. In the old days, when it was still referred to as "sponsoring broker" and when a firm had to be a member of the JSE to be able to perform the function, it was quite an honour, especially if the client or clients to whom one was sponsor were of the blue-chip variety. But times have changed and so has the role. No longer a clubby, chummy function, full of bon mots and camaraderie, it's a much more professional world.

Sponsors now have to prove they can do the job and being a stockbroker is no guarantee of being allowed to carry on the function.

That's all very well and one would naturally assume that such a function would carry a great deal of gravitas and high reward. Unfortunately this isn't the case. There are lots of sponsors around and not so many listed companies , so sponsors often get paid relatively small amounts for the time-consuming and fairly demanding work that they do. And for the past two years, companies have been required to have sponsors at all times, not just for corporate events.

Though few if any sponsors would admit it openly, much of what they do is "loss-leader" work - a "foot in the door" for the infinitely more lucrative stuff attached to corporate finance work. They still give high-level service in the role of sponsor, but wait patiently for the time when a corporate event - a merger or acquisition or delisting - occurs, and then they're in, basking in the glow of a fat corporate finance fee.

In buoyant times it's great, as corporate events happen more frequently. But in the quiet times, sponsors just have to bite the bullet.

Looking through the list of sponsors, the power of the banks comes through loud and clear. These organisations have huge capacity to do the technical work that accompanies the role of sponsor and they acquit themselves well.

But there are a couple of anomalies. Absa Corporate & Merchant Bank continues to lag the field, having only three sponsorships, including the one for its parent, Absa. The other is FirstRand, though its merchant banking subsidiary, Rand Merchant Bank, has a large and enviable client base. Apart from FirstRand itself, RMB sponsors the Rupert empire in the form of both Remgro and Richemont, as well as a good variety of blue chips and others.

In terms of sheer volume, it's a toss-up between Investec Corporate Finance and Nedbank Capital for top position, with 34 sponsorships apiece.

Like Investec, Sasfin is a very nimble outfit and is able to offer its clients the full suite of services. It's no slouch on the sponsorship front either, having 28 of them.

Standard Bank has an interesting mixture of sponsorships - 14 in total.

Among the multinational stockbrokers/investment banks, Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan are in front in terms of sheer numbers, with 17 and 18 respectively. Deutsche Securities and UBS have nine each.

HSBC Investment Services has only three sponsorships - Nictus, Lonafric and Namsea. HSBC closed down its investment research capability in SA early in 2005.

Accounting and auditing firms - such as Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Grant Thornton, KPMG and PwC - have healthy sponsor lists.

The sponsor field is really starting to open up to the smaller players, many of whom have become specialists - such as Bridge Capital Services, Exchange Sponsors, Java Capital, LPC Manhattan Moela Sponsors, and River Sponsors.

And while the majority of their clients are smaller-cap companies, there are a few mid-caps like Wooltru and Grindrod that use smaller players. Often the large-cap - and especially dual-listed - companies feel they need to use the services of multinational players such as foreign investment banks and stockbrokers.