Eduardo Lecubarri & team, J.P. Morgan Cazenove

The London-based threesome at J.P. Morgan Cazenove climbs one rung to second place. Team leader Eduardo Lecubarri’s “grasp of small- and midcaps goes beyond his competitors’ reach,” one fan declares. The crew believes there will be “more upside than downside in a market still driven by macro and political news flow,” Lecubarri says. Consequently, the analysts are emphasizing stocks that can deliver what they call “defensive beta” — that is, alpha returns during a rally and downside protection in the meantime — such as beaten-down cyclicals with strong market shares, solid balance sheets and sustainable free cash flow generation. “We see European small- and midcaps offering one of the best investment propositions today within the global small- and midcap universe,” he says.