SECOND TEAM

Julian Easthope, Victoria Lee & team Barclays Capital

Bolting from runner-up to second place is the Barclays Capital quintet shepherded by Julian Easthope and Victoria Lee. Buy-siders applaud the team for its “early and correct call on the return of investor sentiment” and for its “great stock pick” on Accor. The group upgraded the French hotel operator’s stock from neutral to buy in September 2009, at €34.43, believing that the company’s plans to split its two core businesses, Accor Hospitality and Accor Services, would result in operational efficiencies and more-robust profits. In early July the demerger was implemented and investors received one share of the new services company, Edenred, for each Accor share they owned. Edenred’s shares began trading at €13 and by late December had shot up 36.3 percent, to €17.72. The newly independent Accor’s stock opened at €24.40 the day the demerger took effect and ended the year up 36.5 percent, at €33.30.