Arnaud Pinatel & team Exane BNP Paribas
The buy side says: “They are reliable and credible — and their recommendations have been spot-on.”
Holding on to the top spot for a third consecutive year is the Exane BNP Paribas trio conducted solely this year by Arnaud Pinatel, 45, following last summer’s departure of Nicolas Godet. In September the team upgraded Rockwool International from neutral to outperform, at 503 Danish kroner, largely on the strength of the Denmark-based insulation supplier’s sales to Eastern Europe. In November, after the shares had shot up 34 percent, to Dkr674, and trumped the sector by 19.6 percentage points, they downgraded it to hold, on valuation. By the end of December, the share price had climbed 3.1 percent further, to Dkr695, but trailed the sector by 7 points. “The team has a deep understanding of the dynamics of the sector and of the particularities of each company,” explains one portfolio manager. “That alone is helpful, but what really sets them apart is that they are also able to see the forces working in the financial market and how they affect the valuations of the companies they follow.”