Mark Braley & team, Deutsche Bank

Advancing from runner-up to the third tier is Deutsche Bank’s 56-member team, led now by newcomer Mark Braley; he also leads the No. 2 team in Media. The analysts track 185 U.K. stocks and added resources last year so they could expand coverage this year, London-based Braley reports. Clients are grateful for the upgrade: “They’ve done a good job investing in research capability and strengthening their pan-European coverage and perspective, with a lot more coverage of the industrials and materials sectors,” one money manager observes. “The investments are really paying off.” Stock picking will take precedence over sector picking in 2012, the team believes, with the strongest performers likely to be those companies exposed to emerging markets and the U.S. Among the names the analysts are recommending are Amec, a London-based construction and engineering project-management company; consumer goods manufacturer Reckitt Benckiser Group, which is headquartered in Slough; and London’s UBM, which provides business-to-business communications and marketing services.