UBS Rockets to the Top of the All-Europe Research Team
UBS vaults from fifth place all the way to first on the All-Europe Research Team, Institutional Investor’s annual ranking of the region’s best sell-side equity analysts, seizing top honors for the first time since 2010. The Swiss bank captures 30 positions, a whopping 50 percent increase over its 2014 total and two more than the firms that share the second tier, Deutsche Bank and J.P. Morgan Cazenove. The former’s rank and total are unchanged from last year, while the latter picks up one spot and in so doing advances one level.
Last year’s winner, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, tumbles to fourth place after losing six positions, leaving it with 26. Morgan Stanley slips one rung to No. 5; its total falls by one, to 22.
However, when a weighting of 4 is applied to each first-place position, 3 to each second-place spot, and so on, BofA Merrill and Deutsche Bank rank highest, each with a weighted score of 62, while UBS comes in third, with a score of 61. Click on Weighting the Results in the navigation table at right to see how each firm fares when this formula is applied.
UBS’s victory — its 17th — is especially sweet as this year marks the 30th anniversary of the team. To commemorate this milestone, II aggregated the survey data for the past three decades to determine which firms and team leaders have racked up the most appearances over that period. The Zurich-based banking behemoth is far out in front, having amassed a stunning 1,345 spots since 1986. In second place overall, with 784 spots, is BofA Merrill, followed in third by Credit Suisse, with 724.
Among individuals, Patrick Wellington holds the record for most appearances, with 28 since 1989; this year the Morgan Stanley analyst leads the team in second place in Media. Sanford C. Bernstein’s Andrew Wood has finished in first place more often than any other researcher: 17 times, as either a solo analyst or crew captain, since debuting in 2004. This year Wood is No. 1 in Food Producers and in Household & Personal Care Products for a sixth consecutive year.
For more information about the 30th anniversary rankings, click here.
A total of 42 firms are represented in this year’s results, including five that didn’t appear in 2014: Autonomous Research and RBC Europe, both of which are headquartered in the U.K.; Spain’s Fidentiis Equities, MainFirst Bank of Germany and France’s Oddo Securities.
Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Michael Helsby and Alastair Ryan co-direct two teams that finish in first place, in Banks (for a second straight year) and for coverage of the United Kingdom (for the first time).
Their colleague Nik Oliver appears on three lists: Beverages (third place, solo leader); Household & Personal Care Products (runner-up, co-leader with Pinar Ergun); and Tobacco (runner-up, solo leader).
Other analysts who lead or co-lead more than one ranked team are:
* Inigo Fraser-Jenkins of Nomura International steers squads at No. 2 in Quantitative Research and runner-up in Equity Strategy;
* Nicholas Nelson of UBS pilots crews that take third for coverage of the United Kingdom and runner-up in Equity Strategy;
* Bosco Ojeda leads UBS teams that claim second place and runner-up, respectively, in Small- & Mid-Capitalization Stocks and for coverage of Iberia;
* J.P. Morgan Cazenove’s Celine Pannuti heads up squads at No. 3 in Household & Personal Care Products and runner-up in Food Producers;
* Harold Thompson of Deutsche Bank manages groups that take second place in Household & Personal Care Products and (with Gerry Gallagher) runner-up in Food Producers;
* Gaëtan Toulemonde, also of Deutsche Bank, oversees a team that earns a runner-up spot for coverage of France and co-directs (with Jochen Gehrke) the No. 2 troupe Autos & Auto Parts; and
* Deutsche Bank’s Alexander (Warwick) Okines guides teams that earn the No. 2 position in Retailing/General and (with Francesca DiPasquantonio) runner-up in Luxury Goods.
Other highlights of this year’s results include:
* Andreas Neubauer celebrates his 14th straight year as leader or co-leader of the Deutsche Bank squad deemed the best at covering Germany;
* Exane BNP Paribas earns a sixth straight year at No. 1 for coverage of France despite a change in team leadership, from Vincent Laurencin to Ben Spruntulis;
* Sarah Deans leads the top-ranked team in Accounting & Valuation for a seventh year running. For the past five years, she’s been with Citi.
Eighteen of this year’s 45 sector-topping analysts and teams advance from last year. Here are the analysts who guide squads that climb from second place:
* From Bank of America Merrill Lynch: Céline Fornaro, Aerospace & Defense; Michael Helsby & Alastair Ryan, United Kingdom; and Arnaud Lehmann, Building & Construction;
* From Credit Suisse: Lars Kjellberg, Paper & Packaging;
* From Deutsche Bank: Spyros Mesomeris, Quantitative Research;
* J.P. Morgan Cazenove: Jaime Vazquez, Retailing/Food & Drug Chains; and Hannes Wittig, Telecommunications Services;
* From Morgan Stanley: Bart Gysens, Property; Michael Jüngling, Medical Technologies & Services; Geoffrey Ruddell, Retailing/General; and Adam Wood, Technology/Software;
* From Nomura International: Christyan Malek, Oil Services;
* From Rabobank: David Tailleur, Benelux;
* From SEB Equities: Mika Koskinen, Nordic Countries; and
* From UBS: Arnaud Giblat, Specialty & Other Finance.
Barclays’s Julien Roch oversees the team that jumps from third place to first in Media, while these analysts manage the ones that rocket from runner-up all the way to the top:
* From Exane BNP Paribas: James Bushnell, Tobacco; and
* From Morgan Stanley: Martinus (Martijn) Rats, Oil & Gas Exploration & Production.
The 2015 All-Europe Research Team reflects the opinions of more than 2,040 money managers at 775 institutions overseeing an estimated $6.2 trillion in European equities.
Picking the Team
To determine the members of Institutional Investor’s 30th annual All-Europe Research Team, we sent questionnaires to the directors of research and heads of investment at institutions worldwide. Included were the money managers in the Euro 100, our exclusive annual ranking of the region’s 100 biggest institutional investors, as well as other key Asian, European and U.S. investors. We keep confidential the identities of the survey respondents and their firms to ensure continuing cooperation.
Participants voted for individual analysts or a firm’s entire team; these votes were combined for firms in each category. A numerical score was produced by weighting each vote based on both the respondent’s European equity assets under management and the place they awarded the brokerage firm (first, second, third or fourth). Ranks were determined using those scores. Teams were designated runners-up when their scores came within 35 percent of the third teams’ scores.
Voters must meet eligibility requirements, and winners must achieve a minimum vote count. In the industry sectors only those analysts who publish independent research as defined by the Financial Conduct Authority are eligible to be recognized as team leaders. No such restriction applies to team leaders in Countries & Regions and Economics & Strategy. All ballots are subject to review by our Research Operations Group, and final results may be inspected by an independent auditor.
The 2015 All-Europe Research Team survey produced complete results (first-, second- and third-place teams) in 44 of the 45 polled sectors; voting was insufficient to award a third-place position for coverage of Ireland.
The analyst featured for each winning group is either the individual designated as team leader by the firm or the one recognized most frequently by investors. Analysts who switched firms after October 24, 2014, are cited at their previous organizations.
The 2015 All-Europe Research Team reflects the opinions of over 2,040 money managers at 775 institutions overseeing an estimated $6.2 trillion in European equities.
Senior Contributing Writers Pam Baker, Katie Gilbert, Carolyn Koo, Leslie Kramer, Ben Mattlin and Paul Sweeney wrote the accompanying team profiles. References to sector performances are based on MSCI Europe indexes and given in local currencies, unless otherwise noted.
This ranking was compiled by Senior Research Editor Tucker Ewing, Associate Research Editor Denise Hoguet and Researchers Denise Best, Amy Kong and Jillian Michalek under the guidance of Thomas W. Johnson, Director of Research.