Céline Fornaro & team
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Slipping to the second tier is Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Céline Fornaro and her London-based duo. With a growing roster of companies under coverage — 13 at present, up one from a year ago — they are applauded for “uncovering moneymaking opportunities,” as one London portfolio manager puts it. Case in point: Although cautious on most defense names, they stuck with a buy on U.K.-based QinetiQ Group, upgraded from neutral back in January 2010, at 137.34p, on optimism over then-new chief executive officer Leo Quinn, a 16-year veteran of U.S. conglomerate Honeywell International. The upgrade came much too soon; shares of the security-related research and development provider fell below 100p late in that year and languished throughout much of 2011 before starting to climb — and then climb they did. Last year the stock jumped 40.7 percent, from 130.45p to 183.50p, and the analysts continue to recommend it, citing escalating demand for cyber security. — Ben Mattlin