Industry Sectors: Chemicals

Thomas Gilbert & team UBS

second teamTimothy Jones & team Deutsche

third teamAndrew Stott & team BofA Merrill Lynch

It’s the second straight year at No. 1 for Thomas Gilbert and the fourth for the UBS quartet he heads. The Zurich-­based team impressed investors by reiterating its buy recommendation on Germany’s Bayer in March, at €32.90, following a sell-off sparked when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration expressed concerns about quality control at one of company’s facilities. The UBS researchers insisted that investors were overreacting, and they were right. By December 31 the agricultural products manufacturer’s stock had rallied 70.1 percent, to €55.96, and was ahead of the sector by 14.9 percentage points. Gilbert, 38, “is helpful with stock selections and is the first to highlight downside risks,” according to one client.

The Deutsche trio captained by ­Timothy Jones takes second place for a second consecutive year. In October 2008 the team issued a contrarian buy rating on Germany’s BASF as a bargain at €24.50. The call was early — shares of the diversified plastics maker’s stock slid to €20.59 in March — but the analysts stuck to their guns, and by the end of the year, the stock had catapulted 77.4 percent since the upgrade, to €43.46.

Andrew Stott and his three-­member BofA team, who capture third place for a second year running, demonstrate a winning knack for “bringing the news flow into perspective,” in the words of one investor. In April they upgraded Clariant from neutral to buy, at Sf5.41, citing the Swiss paint and dye developer’s debt-­reduction plans. The stock had soared an eye-­popping 125.9 percent, to Sf12.22, by the end of the year.

To go back to the index page, click on the Best European Analysts of the Year: 2010 All-Europe Research Team.

To read the article, click on: Reversal of Fortunes: The 2010 All-Europe Research Team.

Click here to access the complete rankings of the 2010 All-Europe Research Team.