< The 2014 All-Europe Research Team

2014-03-tom-johnson-all-europe-research-team-blair-stewart.jpg
Blair Stewart
& team
Bank of America
Merrill Lynch
First-Place Appearances: 9

Total Appearances: 32

Team Debut: 1990

“He has been consistently good,” one investor says of Bank of America Merrill Lynch team leader Blair Stewart, who guides his colleagues to first place for a fourth consecutive year. Stewart, 41, splits his time between Edinburgh and London. He has been the sole head of the squad since Brian Shea departed to become chief corporate strategy officer at French insurer and asset management firm SCOR in August. The rest of his four-person crew is based in London. Last year, European insurance shares gained 28.7 percent — 10.6 percentage points ahead of the broad market — and in general, the researchers “have a constructive view toward the sector,” Stewart reports. “But we have moved away from an outright overweight stance,” he adds, “due to the strong performance that we have seen.” Within the group, they prefer life stocks, although they see near-term support for nonlife insurance companies, thanks to capital return and dividend opportunities. In that vein, of the 33 companies in the analysts’ coverage universe, English property/casualty giant Aviva is projected to be a standout this year. “We like the new management team and the restructuring that will come through in the coming years,” says Stewart. “We think the pace of cost cutting, deleveraging and dividend recovery will [be] faster than the market expects,” he adds. They upgraded Aviva from neutral to buy in August, and by year’s end it had climbed 14.2 percent, to 449.70 pence, compared with the sector’s 8.9 percent gain.

See also Blair Stewart's profiles in the 2013 All-Europe Research Team and 2012 All-Europe Research Team.