< The 2015 All-Europe Research Team

Total Appearances: 10

Team Debut: 2002

Morgan Stanley completes its steady rise to the top of this roster, advancing one position to topple six-time sector champion J.P. Morgan Cazenove, which falls to No. 2. In his second stint with the firm, Bart Gysens has directed coverage since 2011 — he rejoined Morgan Stanley in 2007 after spending less than a year covering the sector at Lehman Brothers. He first signed on with the firm in 2002, joining as an analyst, after several years as an associate at Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Gysens, 38, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in applied economics from Belgium’s Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. “Bart and his colleague Chris Fremantle combine excellent quality research with clear and insightful communication,” says one fan of the London-based analysts. “Their conference is the best forum for meeting the managements of listed European property companies.” Of the 30 stock in the group’s sector portfolio, U.K.-based British Land has the most upside potential, the researchers contend. The office and retail real estate investment trust “is compellingly valued for its return profile on offer,” explains Gysens. “Therefore we think 2015 could be yet another strong year for the shares.” British Land’s stock climbed 23.9 percent over the 12 months through January, rising to 829.50p, and they believe that a price of 890p is justified. Overall, the analysts are upbeat on the sector’s prospects but caution that a high level of selectiveness is needed, he notes. “We think 2015 performance could be uneven with occasional pullbacks, but we nevertheless see strong upside potential in several U.K. stocks,” Gysens says. “We also think German residential stocks will provide benchmark-beating returns, but arguably to a lesser extent than in 2014, when they were catching up after poor 2013 performance.” Europe’s property shares were up 29.9 percent over the 12-month period through January, ahead of the broader regional market by 21.9 percentage points.