< The 2016 All-Europe Research Team
Jeffrey Stent & team
Exane BNP Paribas
First-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 5
Team debut: 2012
Jeffrey Stent and the London-based Exane BNP Paribas trio he oversees capture second place for a third consecutive year. The 41-year-old team leader, who also directs a squad that earns a runner-up position in Household & Personal Care Products, "adds more value than other analysts because he is never afraid to express an opinion and often takes views that go against consensus," one fund manager insists. "Those views are normally based on real fundamental analysis, and I get very little sense of bias — particularly related to investment banking activity — in his research." Stent and his associates predict that for the 19 European food producers they follow, merger and acquisition potential will remain an important theme, given weak end-consumer demand. One of their against-consensus calls is their advice to clients to sell shares of Switzerland-based Nestlé, the largest company in this sector. "The call was based upon a combination of both valuation and a belief that peers offered more scope for upside surprise," he explains. Since their mid-January 2015 recommendation, the stock has climbed 3.6 percent, to Sf70.05, while the regional sector advanced by 3.8 percent.