< The 2016 All-Europe Research Team

Total appearances: 14

Team debut: 2001

With a trio of regional luxury goods researchers working out of London and Milan, J.P. Morgan Cazenove leaves behind the runner-up position it merited the past three years and jumps to second place. Leader Melanie Flouquet, 42, "is just the best luxury analyst in the market," one money manager insists. "Her understanding and knowledge of the market, operating models of the companies and how macro factors can influence the [profit and loss] and balance sheets of the players in the sector is unique." While noting that her sector has seen dampened growth and lowered top-line prospects, Flouquet points out that these changed circumstances have led management teams to contain their costs and rein in store expansion plans. "Some companies have been prompt in adjusting their business models and are already showing signs of being able to operate successfully in a lower-growth environment," she adds. On this theme, Flouquet and her cohort have since October 2014 been recommending that investors favor France’s LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The diversified luxury conglomerate has been weathering the deceleration in China’s economy better than other brands, they advise, and its broad portfolio should buoy performance during the choppy times ahead. LVMH’s stock closed at €137.40 in mid-January 2016, up 10.9 percent and ahead of its regional peers by 8.1 percentage points.