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Marco Gulpers
& team
ING Financial Markets
"They're knowledgeable about all the Benelux equities, and they organize a lot of seminars and road shows."
Newcomer Marco Gulpers, 42, and his ten-member troupe leap from third place to plant the ING Financial Markets flag atop the sector for the first time. "It's crucial to be in contact with them," insists one Paris-based investor. The Amsterdam-based crew follows 110 Benelux stocks, ten more than last year, and their favorites for 2013 include Royal DSM — a life sciences company headquartered in Herleen, Netherlands — which Gulpers dubs "the nutritional play of the year" thanks to its €495 million ($634 million) acquisition of Fortitech, a food additives manufacturer based in the U.S. The December takeover, which was DSM's ninth in just over two years, will expand the company's health and nutrition businesses, boosting sales and profits, he adds. Gulpers joined ING in 2005 and tracked the food and beverages sectors, then directed coverage of Western Europe before assuming his current role last year. He earned a master's degree in business economics with a specialization in mergers and acquisitions at the Netherlands' Tilburg University. — Paul Sweeney