Max Warburton & team, Sanford C. Bernstein
The buy side says: “Every investor in auto stocks simply must know what Max is saying.”
Max Warburton drives the Sanford C. Bernstein trio to a second consecutive first-place finish. Warburton, 37, and his crew follow just eight stocks — automakers only, no parts suppliers — yet “they take on important topics that others don’t touch,” observes one booster. For instance, in March the London-based analysts examined the market penetration of European luxury cars in emerging economies such as China and concluded that sales would continue to rise. Among the stocks they recommended was BMW, which they upgraded from market perform to outperform, at €53.57. The German automaker’s stock zipped 37.4 percent, to €73.63, in late July before falling back to €51.76 at the end of the year; nonetheless, it managed to best the sector by 14.4 percentage points over the period. The team remains bullish. “Excellent stock selection in the area of autos, especially concerning BMW,” declares one portfolio manager.