Ronald Köhler & team, MainFirst Bank

The 14-member MainFirst Bank team, which is based in Frankfurt, spent the past two years in the runner-up position; this year Ronald Köhler leads the analysts up two rungs to second place. Köhler and his associates predict “a low-growth scenario” but no severe recession this year in Germany. They cover about 70 stocks, and their top picks for 2012 include Frankfurt-based airport operator Fraport — for which the team sees “almost 60 percent upside,” owing to expectations of growth despite weaknesses in the broader economy —and Stuttgart’s Celesio, on the belief that the pharmaceuticals company will experience a “massive turnaround” when it establishes its own over-the-counter brands, Köhler says. The MainFirst researchers are “very aggressive at ferreting out information, and the conversations are always quick but action-packed — they’re very effective at cutting to the chase,” marvels one satisfied client.