| | Christian Aufsatz, Dipesh Mehta & team | | Barclays | | “Christian and Dipesh are excellent at providing detailed, structural analysis when digging into deals and justifying why there is value or risk.” | Christian Aufsatz and Dipesh Mehta shepherd Barclays' London-based quartet to a second consecutive first-place finish. “Their selection of topics is excellent, and they cover specific issues as well as the big picture in a clear and entertaining way,” observes one buy-side backer in Frankfurt. The strategists note that the senior bonds in core sectors — U.K. residential mortgage-backed securities, for example — are still relatively high yielding and liquid, compared with other asset-backed instruments. Even though spreads on these securities have been more than halved since last summer, driven by a positive tone in credit markets and the announcement of government funding for lending programs, further compression is likely, Aufsatz says. Meanwhile, spreads on German senior auto asset-backed securities are already tight, but there is “further catch-up potential” for non-German auto ABS spreads, he adds. Aufsatz, 38, led the European commercial MBS ratings team at Moody’s Investors Service before joining Barclays in 2010; he has a degree in business administration from Germany’s Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. Mehta, 33, earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and management at King’s College London. He is also a veteran of Moody’s, where he covered RMBS transactions; he has been with Barclays since 2007. — Carolyn Koo |