< The 2014 All-Europe Research Team

Erik Bloomquist & team
Berenberg
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 2

Team debut: 2013

Advancing to No. 3 is the Berenberg squad led by Erik Bloomquist that debuted last year at runner-up. The pair, based in London, reports on five tobacco stocks and expects to pick up tracking of the four biggest American names along with three Indonesian companies this year. “We are cautiously optimistic on the outlook for the sector,” advises Bloomquist, seeing “the operational and [foreign exchange] headwinds factored into the stock prices and an opportunity therefore for some upside surprise.” European tobacco names trailed the broad market by 16.2 percentage points last year, gaining just 1.9 percent. The researchers’ favorite company is Japan Tobacco, he says, thanks to the promise of price increases in Japan over the next two years and the strength of its Japan Tobacco International division, which is headquartered in Switzerland.