< The 2016 All-Europe Research Team

Total appearances: 3

Team debut: 2014

Jean-Christophe Liaubet and his Exane BNP Paribas troupe advance from runner-up to claim third place, marking their first top-three appearance. The ten-person team — whose members are stationed in London, Madrid, Milan and Paris — is a proponent of Europe’s small- and midcap video game developer sector. Particular favorites include two French names: Gameloft, which publishes games for all digital platforms, from mobile phones to set-top boxes and consoles; and Ubisoft Entertainment, developer of the well received Assassin’s Creed and Rainbow Six franchises, among other titles. French mass media conglomerate Vivendi, in October, bought minority stakes in both companies, which likely were attractive to the multinational thanks to their “French DNA, with solid global strategic positions in content, fragmented capital room for influence on governance, undemanding valuations and upside potential at the operating level,” says Liaubet, 41. In a different sector, he and his colleagues champion Gamesa Corp. Tecnológica, characterizing the Spanish maker of wind turbines as a global recovery play. Paris-based Liaubet has spent his entire career at UBS, joining in May 1998 and working successively as a media and Internet equity analyst, deputy head of research and, since March 2013, head of the European small- and midcaps research team. He graduated from France’s Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Paris with a specialization in finance.