The 2013 All-America Research Team: Pharmaceuticals/Major, No. 2: Timothy Anderson

San Francisco-basedTimothy Andersondrops to second place after four years at No. 1. The Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. analyst’s “coverage of both U.S. and European companies provides a much broader view of the entire industry on a global basis,” one money manager avers. “His underlying valuation analysis provides a good framework for weighting stocks within portfolios.” U.S. pharmaceuticals outperformed the S&P 500 by 4.6 percentage points this year into early August, rising 24.5 percent, then the rally seemed to dissipate, leaving the sector aligned with the broader market through the end of the month. Anderson foresees, “on balance, fundamentals improving, albeit slowly,” he says. “But unless the market becomes risk averse and flocks to historically defensive sectors, the group could continue to trade about in line.” Merck & Co. is among the researcher’s favorites. The Whitehouse Station, New Jersey–based company “has reasonable growth prospects; trades at a reasonable valuation, especially relative to some of the other U.S. drug names; and has some late-stage pipeline drugs, where there is currently more upside than downside given current investor expectations,” he explains. Anderson “is able to provide a longer-term view of each company, while providing timely updates following conference calls under his ‘What Did They Just Say?’ format,” relays another money manager. —Leslie Kramer