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Holger Blum,
Richard Parkes
& team
Deutsche Bank
"They positively surprise us year after year."
For a second year in a row, Deutsche Bank's five-strong squad co-captained by Holger Blum and Richard Parkes captures first place. Blum, 40, is headquartered in Zurich, co-directs (with Yi-Dan Wang) the No. 2 team in Medical Technologies & Services and also helms the crew ranked third for coverage of Switzerland. Parkes, 39, works out of London with two other team members; the fifth analyst is based in Frankfurt. The group covers 14 stocks, two more than last year, and plans to expand coverage even further this year. Praised for their "detailed and correct fundamental industry and company analyses as well as accurate stock recommendations," in the words of one U.S.-based money manager, the researchers have a positive outlook on the sector, thanks to an easing regulatory environment and an uptick in research and development activity. Top picks for the year include Algeta, a cancer-drug developer headquartered in Norway, and Switzerland's Actelion. "We believe the shares of both are still being undervalued, given the opportunity for new drugs that should be approved in 2013," says Parkes. — Leslie Kramer