SECOND TEAM

Heinz Thomas Mayer & team Deutsche Bank

Unranked since 2007, the Deutsche Bank quartet conducted by Frankfurt-based Heinz Thomas Mayer lands in second place. Backers single out last February’s review of sovereign-debt problems and numerous follow-up reports and conference calls about the need for an independent European monetary fund. Mayer, who became chief economist of Deutsche Bank in January 2010, “is not shy about voicing strong and controversial opinions, and helped put events in perspective from a distinctly European point of view, as opposed to a British or American one,” affirms one advocate. Critics, however, charge that the team underestimated the magnitude of the default issues facing Irish banks. “They were a bit late in realizing the need for Ireland to accept a bailout package,” relates one loyalist.