< The 2016 All-Europe Research Team
Harold Thompson & team
Deutsche Bank
First-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 11
Team debut: 2005
The No. 2 position on this lineup goes to Deutsche Bank’s London-based squad, as it has every year since 2011. Overseeing coverage is Harold Thompson, who also co-captains, with Gerry Gallagher, a team that merits a repeat runner-up showing on the Food Producers roster. One fund manager singles out for praise the 37-year-old leader’s "strong industry knowledge, good in-depth reports and helpful midcap coverage." These attributes are trained on eight European household and personal care products names, and Deutsche’s group sees significant reasons to be optimistic. Far too many words have been wasted lately on concerns about high valuations in the space, the researchers contend, so they are counseling clients to ignore the subject. "I believe that valuation is not the major issue," says Thompson. "I do, however, see the below-trend growth in emerging markets as a far bigger issue, which we believe has started to turn in the sector’s favor." A company that is well positioned to benefit from that change is British-Dutch behemoth Unilever, the analysts believe. They also like Germany’s Beiersdorf, because it is benefiting from accelerated margin expansion; and Reckitt Benckiser Group of the U.K., which is poised to capitalize on strong gains in the consumer health industry.