Marco Greco & team, Mediobanca

Mediobanca drops to third place after two years in second. The 12-member, Milan-based crew led by Marco Greco is particularly adept at “providing local flavor on what the government policies are and what the Bank of Italy, for example, thinks about regulation,” notes one buy-side supporter. “Understanding the whole macro story is essential right now.” The researchers provide coverage of 98 companies and that figure is likely to “remain stable” this year, Greco says. The analysts predict that, if Europe’s sovereign-debt crises abate, the Italian economy will bottom out in the first quarter and then rebound to end the year at “higher than current levels,” he adds — noting, however, that Italy’s stock market is at the mercy of the credit situation because attitudes toward equity investing are shaped by the news flow. Companies that the team believes are well positioned to benefit from the anticipated recovery include Milan-based infrastructure developer Impregilo and Intesa Sanpaolo, a financial services provider headquartered in Turin.