< The 2014 All-Europe Research Team

Jason Napier, Matt Spick & team
Deutsche Bank
First-place appearances: 2

Total appearances: 9

Team debut: 1999

After two years at No. 1, Deutsche Bank tumbles to third place. Jointly directed by London-based Jason Napier and Matt Spick, the team’s seven analysts cover 36 names from offices in Frankfurt, London, Milan and Paris. They “spend the time to take clients on investor trips when on-the-ground knowledge is most important,” one investor reports. This is a year of restructuring and cost cutting for European banks, the team contends. In its 2014 outlook report, the squad advised clients to expect the revenue environment to still be challenging but less so than last year. They predict that industry revenues will rise 5 percent by year’s end. Deutsche’s top picks among Europe’s capital-markets exposed banks are U.K.-based Barclays and France’s Société Générale, both of which are trading at discounts to their tangible net asset values, the researchers note. Their target price for SocGen, which they say is already operating a more focused strategy, is €47, an 11.3 percent upside to its year-end 2013 price. For Barclays they project £3.20, a 17.7 percent premium to the stock’s price late in December. “We think the worst of the [fixed-income, currencies and commodities] headwinds have either happened already or been better captured by consensus,” says Spick, “and a management team that will take the actions it needs to on costs.” Another money manager champions Spick as “a genuine thought leader on all investment banking–related issues.”

See also Jason Napier and Matt Spick's profiles in the 2013 All-Europe Research Team and 2012 All-Europe Research Team.