< The 2015 All-Europe Research Team
Matthias Desmarais & team
Oddo Securities
First-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 8
Team debut: 2006
Oddo Securities returns to this roster after a year’s absence to capture third-place honors. Newcomer Matthias Desmarais, 40, oversees a group of 27 researchers, most of whom are headquartered in Paris; a small group tracks small- and midcap stocks from Lyon. Altogether, they report on 197 domestic companies, and investors value their local expertise. “Unlike the big guys, they’re very focused on France,” one fund manager says. “Their midcap product is really good. Honestly, they’re the only brokers that I use for the French names.” Top Oddo picks for 2015 include specialty pharmaceuticals maker Ipsen, which develops therapies for such pathologies as cancer, blood diseases and neuromuscular disorders. Performance drivers for Ipsen include its robust pipeline, bearing both “derisked life-cycle management” and “riskier, high-potential” therapies, Desmarais reports. In addition, the Paris-based company is increasingly penetrating global markets, especially with a big push into the U.S., and management continues to expand the business with strategic acquisitions while pruning fixed costs. Finally, the leader adds, Ipsen’s shares trade “at an unwarranted 20 percent discount” to peers. Oddo’s researchers assign the stock a price target of €49, which implies an 8.6 percent upside to their value at the end of last month. Desmarais joined the firm as head of research last February. Previously, he worked in corporate finance at BNP Paribas, handling Asian mergers and acquisitions, before moving to London to become a hotels and leisure analyst at J.P. Morgan. He also covered that sector for SG Securities and, most recently, Exane BNP Paribas. Desmarais holds masters’ degrees in audit and consulting from ESCP Europe and in finance from the Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris.