< The 2015 All-Europe Research Team
Mark Clark, Timothy Race & team
Deutsche Bank
First-Place Appearances: 2
Total appearances: 17
Team debut: 1997
The five-person Deutsche Bank team under the guidance of Mark Clark, 51, and Timothy Race, 41, slips from second place to third. Reporting on 18 regional pharmaceuticals names from offices in Frankfurt and London, the troupe wins praise from one portfolio manager for the “substance and solidity” of their research product. One Deutsche favorite in this space is Shire, an Irish specialty biopharmaceuticals developer whose shares are listed in London and New York. The analysts are impressed with the company’s strong growth and cash-flow track records, as well as its underappreciated pipeline, all of which featured in their comprehensive, 40-page October report titled “Near-Term Delivery, Long-Term Pipeline Optionality.” They also commend Shire’s “highly credible new CEO,” as Clark describes Flemming Ornskov, who became chief executive in April 2013, and point approvingly to “merger and acquisition possibilities to enhance its position in rare diseases further.” The Shire shares trading on the London Stock Exchange ended January at 4,854p, and the team forecasts a rise to 5,700p. Looking at the regional sector as a whole, Deutsche’s group is neutral for the short term, “as positives, such as pipeline productivity improvements, relative earnings and visibility versus uncertain macro backdrop, are broadly balanced out by above-trend valuation and an increasing threat of price erosion in the U.S. — the sector’s biggest, most profitable market,” Clark says.