SECOND TEAM

Andrew Kasoulis & team Credit Suisse

Holding steady in second place for a second consecutive year is the three-strong Credit Suisse crew led by Andrew Kasoulis. In March the team broke with the consensus and advised clients to sell their shares of Levallois-Perret, France–based Carrefour, at €34.77, on the belief that modest gains in fourth-quarter 2009 — for which the company reported a year-over-year rise of 1 percent, to €26 million ($37.3 million) — had prompted management and other analysts to be irrationally exuberant about growth going forward. By late December the stock had tumbled 11.3 percent, to €30.85. “Andrew and his team have really kept their ears close to the ground, managing to avoid the excessive background noise in the sector,” observes one portfolio manager.