Sean Holmes, Natalia Smirnova & team
Deutsche Bank
First-place appearances: 2

Total appearances: 4

Team debut: 2011

Deutsche Bank’s five-member squad under the direction of Johannesburg-based Sean Holmes and Natalia Smirnova, who is headquartered in Moscow, bounds from runner-up to second place on this list and rises one notch to No. 2 on the Consumer/Nondiscretionary lineup. Among the 42 regional consumer names the strategists monitor, MD Medical Group Investments is a favorite. They upgraded the Russian private health care services provider from hold to buy in April, primarily on valuation. At that time, its global depositary shares had been beaten down 44.1 percent for the year to date, while the sector inched up 1.6 percent. By the end of May, however, they had jumped 23.1 percent, to $6.50, besting the sector by 17.2 percentage points. The Deutsche crew believes they can rise as high as $11.20. “This sector will be affected most by the slowdown in real disposable income growth,” says Smirnova. “For this year we forecast a 2.3 percent year-over-year increase, versus 3.3 percent in 2013.” What’s more, she adds, “rising inflation caused by ruble devaluation in the first quarter of 2014 is likely to hurt consumer purchasing power ability this year, as their salaries are not being fully indexed.”