< The 2014 All-Europe Research Team

Arnaud Lehmann & team
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 27

Team debut: 1990

After a three-year absence, Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s troupe rejoins the ranking in second place, now under the guidance of London-based Arnaud Lehmann — who appeared most recently in 2012 as leader of Credit Suisse’s No. 3 team. Lehmann jumped that year to BofA Merrill. Following 20 companies, “they are agile analysts,” declares one investor, “not afraid to alter recommendations when situations change.” In December, Lehmann and his colleagues downgraded two French names from buy to neutral: Cie. de Saint-Gobain, at €37, and Vinci, at €45.94. They reasoned that the European recovery, especially in France, “could be progressively running out of steam,” Lehmann explains. The Saint-Gobain downgrade followed a 39.2 percent rise in the share price since the group’s April valuation-based upgrade of the glass maker from underperform. Similarly, Vinci had booked a 20.5 percent gain since June, when the analysts deemed the commercial builder’s stock inexpensive and elevated it from neutral. A name BofA Merrill recommends buying is Switzerland’s Holcim, upgraded from underperform in December, at Sf63.60, on the concrete supplier’s exposure to recovering emerging markets.