< The 2014 All-Europe Research Team

2014-03-tom-johnson-all-europe-research-team-marco-gulpers.jpg
Marco Gulpers
& team
ING Financial Markets
First-Place Appearances: 2

Total Appearances: 8

Team Debut: 1998

The ING Financial Markets team led by 43-year-old Marco Gulpers repeats in first place, impressing clients with its coverage of 110 Benelux companies from a base in Amsterdam. “I only talk to ING for equity research. They are my first and last stop in the Low Countries,” one fund manager reports. “I find them to be excellent on the Dutch names.” Among the ten analysts’ top picks is one such stock: premium-beer brewer Heineken, which is favored as “both a recovery play and turnaround story,” Gulpers says. Coming off a difficult period resulting from excise duty increases and unfavorable weather in Europe, he notes, the company should see performance gains as global market conditions continue to improve amid macro upturns in the U.S., Mexico and elsewhere in the Americas, as well as in Africa and the Middle East. In particular, Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is poised to right its economy in the run-up to general elections next year. Furthermore, Gulpers adds, Heineken’s margins are likely to “pick up as depreciation charges and other expenses drop.” Its stock price was €49.08 late in December, and the team holds a target of €60.

See also Marco Gulpers' profile in the 2013 All-Europe Research Team.