< The 2014 All-India Research Team

Total Appearances: 4

Analyst Debut: 2011Manoj Menon of Deutsche Bank continues to dominate this space and the Consumer/Discretionary roster, extending his winning streaks to four and three years on the respective lineups. Deemed “a brilliant stock picker and trend spotter” by one buy-side admirer, Menon, 39, turned positive on India’s consumer staples shares in June, citing valuations as one reason — the group underperformed India’s broader market by 24.5 percentage points over the preceding 12 months, gaining just 5 percent. Other factors included the “return of pricing growth due to rational competition and many companies’ readying for new launches or brand restating,” he noted at the time. Moreover, launches and reintroductions by such household and personal care products makers as Ghaziabad-based Dabur India and Mumbai’s Hindustan Unilever and Marico are a leading indicator of consumer confidence, he contends. One investor particularly compliments Menon for his upgrade of New Delhi–based food and beverages provider Nestlé India from sell to buy, pointing out his “convincing” arguments, such as encouraging commentary from management and a slate of scheduled product introductions anticipated over the next several quarters. Sure enough, by late October the sector had advanced 10.3 percent, while Nestlé India’s stock had jumped 21.3 percent, to 5,971.75 rupees. Over the same period the domestic broad market gained 4.8 percent. Menon’s other preferred names include Godrej Consumer Products, a personal care and household products maker that is headquartered in Mumbai; and Calcutta-based ITC, India’s leading cigarette manufacturer.