< The 2014 All-Europe Research Team

Spyros Mesomeris & team
Deutsche Bank
First-place appearances: 3

Total appearances: 7

Team debut: 1987

Despite slipping to second place after a two-year reign on top, Spyros Mesomeris and his troupe at Deutsche Bank win plaudits for their “innovative research topics, with papers that have the right balance between academia and business,” as one portfolio manager puts it. The London-based team of five analysts (which will add a member early this year) cautions that the U.S. Federal Reserve Board’s tapering of its quantitative easing program and a rising rate cycle on risk assets — and their impacts on the behaviors of various strategies — have created uncertainty for investors in Europe. They are monitoring the performance of emerging versus advanced markets and note that “within developed markets clients are interested in Europe versus the U.S. stock market, and the earnings growth dynamic,” explains Mesomeris. His team anticipates a further increase in stock selection opportunities over the coming months, although valuations and earnings are still causing concern. Looking ahead, “our research will aim to address such issues from a systematic investing point of view,” he says. “We also expect increased interest in style timing, and we aim to inform clients on a periodic basis about changes in factor leadership based on our models.”