2015年全欧洲研究团队：英国，第1号：Michael Helsby，Alastair Ryan＆Team

新来的人Michael Helsby和阿拉斯泰尔•瑞安去年出任美银美林(Bank of America Merrill Lynch)英国股票业务负责人，此前前负责人比尔顿(John Bilton)跳槽到摩根大通资产管理公司(J.P. Morgan Asset Management)担任该公司全球战略团队负责人。这两位高管带领他们的欧洲银行团队连续第二年登顶，帮助美银美林在这份榜单上首次登顶，带领他们的50人团队从第二名跃升。分析师们对200多只英国股票进行了分析，一位驻美国的资产经理说，他们的伦敦总部“是我在大西洋彼岸的一个停靠港”。“他们是英国银行方面的专家——他们对劳埃德(Lloyds)银行集团，尤其是巴克莱银行有很深的了解——一旦有消息，他们总是能迅速做出反应。”巴克莱是美银美林团队2015年的最佳选择之一。43岁的瑞安指出，这家总部位于伦敦的金融服务巨头一直在削减其投资银行和更广泛业务的资本，使其“不那么具有系统重要性”。因此，公司应该能够以更少的准备金运营，从而建立资本比率，提高股本回报率的潜力。他建议，这种令人愉快的融合应该意味着股价上涨，同时使巴克莱能够通过提高派息“强劲增长”。1月底，该公司股价为234.15便士，分析师预计将升至325便士。他们也看好布里斯托尔的帝国烟草集团，该集团准备斥资71亿美元收购一批受人尊敬的美国香烟品牌，包括Kool、Salem和Winston as cast-offs in the merger between U.S. competitors Reynolds American and Lorillard Tobacco Co. Shareholders of the two U.S. companies approved the deal in January, and if regulators allow it to be completed, it should result in “material upside,” Ryan says. “We estimate 17 percent accretion from year one driven by tax synergies, cost savings and low cost of finance. Long term we are optimistic on Imperial’s ability to turn around performance in the acquired brands.” They peg the stock at 3,340p, which represents an implied upside of 6.9 percent to its late January trading value. Helsby, 42, hired on with BofA Merrill in 2009 to cover U.K. banks. He had followed the sector at Morgan Stanley, Fox-Pitt, Kelton and ING Charterhouse for several years and previously worked as a chartered accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers and (now-defunct) Arthur Andersen. Before earning a bachelor’s degree in business studies from England’s Liverpool John Moores University, he spent five years at Ford Motor Co. as an electrical control engineer. Ryan joined BofA Merrill in 2013 after 15 years at UBS, where he first covered stocks in Poland before decamping to London to follow U.K. and European banks. He holds a master’s degree in economics and politics from the University of London’s School of Slavonic and Eastern European Studies.