Michael Briest & team UBS
second team Raimo Lenschow & team BofA Merrill Lynch
third team Mark Bryan & team Deutsche
Michael Briest, 37, guides the two-member UBS team to a second straight first-place finish. Briest, who according to one fund manager is “extremely aware of who’s capturing efficiencies, as opposed to just reacting to the recession,” and his associate raised U.K.-based buy Micro Focus International, best known for overhauling legacy enterprise applications, to top pick in October 2008 despite the recent sudden resignation of the company’s CEO. Other analysts downgraded the stock, but the UBS team maintained confidence in remaining executives. The stock soared from 226.62p to 455.70p through December 2009, a stunning 101.1 percent advance that blew past the sector’s 20.1 percent gain. The BofA duo directed by Raimo Lenschow holds steady in second place, thanks in part to “smart, tactical” calls that generate real alpha, according to one buy-sider. One example: The analysts upgraded Germany’s SAP, the world’s biggest enterprise software vendor, to buy in January 2009, at €27.38, on the premise that markets were ignoring the company’s efforts to cut costs. In late October, after the stock had shot up 27.8 percent, to €34.99, they urged clients to take profits. The stock then slid 5.7 percent through year-end. Rising from runner-up to third place is the Deutsche duo helmed by Mark Bryan. The researchers upgraded U.K.-based Logica to buy in June, on the belief that the information technology consulting outfit’s shares were undervalued at 74p. The stock surged 53.6 percent, to 113.70p, through December. “Logica was a great contrarian buy,” applauds one investor.
To go back to the index page, click on the Best European Analysts of the Year: 2010 All-Europe Research Team.
To read the article, click on: Reversal of Fortunes: The 2010 All-Europe Research Team
Click here to access the complete rankings of the 2010 All-Europe Research Team
