The share of institutional equity brokerage commissions captured by independent third-party research providers in the U.S. has declined significantly in recent month, finds new research from Greenwich Associates.

Its latest survey of institutional portfolio managers found that independent research firms saw their share of overall equity research commission payments drop to 11% in 2009 from 18% in 2008 (as reported by managers participating in the survey).

Independent firms had been growing their share of institutional commissions for several years following the 2003 settlement with Wall Street over research conflicts. That share flattened out in 2007-08, Greenwich reported, before dropping in 2008-09.

“There has been a lot of attention paid to high profile analysts that have left the Street to launch independent research firms,” says Greenwich’s Jay Bennett. “We wish them well, since our research suggests they are entering into a very competitive market. There is still a high degree of dependency between U.S. institutions and the major banks, investment banks and broker-dealers, as these large institutions have the resources needed to meet institutions’ growing demand for direct access to analysts, as opposed to published research.”