François Meunier & team
Morgan Stanley
Unranked last year, the four-member Morgan Stanley squad captained by newcomer François Meunier shoots straight in to second place; Meunier also pilots the No. 1 team in Technology/Semiconductors. The London-based researchers report on eight companies, two more than last year. In May they launched coverage on Gemalto, a digital-security-products manufacturer headquartered in the Netherlands, with an overweight rating, at €55.65. “Our estimates were 20 percent above consensus and the company’s guidance for 2013, and we believed upward momentum and strong growth prospects would drive the shares,” Meunier explains. They were right. By the end of the year, the stock had bolted 22.2 percent, to €68, and bested the sector by 16 percentage points. The team has “an outstanding knowledge of the sector coupled with extraordinarily good stock calls,” cheers one buy-side enthusiast. — Pam Baker