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The 2013 All-America Research Team: Banks/Midcap, No. 1: Steven Alexopoulos
J.P. Morgan’sSteven Alexopoulos“possesses almost encyclopedic information about what makes each stock unique,” one client marvels. “He is the go-to analyst for quickly getting up to speed on an unfamiliar name.” The 42-year-old, who captures his third straight No. 1, posits that a midcap bank stock rally tied to the prospects of higher short-term rates had, as of mid-August, pushed the sector’s valuation close to the upper end of its expected range in a normalized interest rate environment. “Consequently,” he explains, “while this implies a still-rising tide for the group, investors need to focus on highly differentiated and unique business models that are positioned to outrun a still-slow-moving industry top line.” Alexopoulos favors First Republic Bank, dubbing it “one of the best-positioned banks over the near as well as long term, given its exposure to one of the fastest-growing segments, high-net-worth clients, in some of the fastest-growing markets — California, Boston and New York — for this segment.” He also thinks the San Francisco–based bank’s most profitable years for shareholders are yet to come. Another top name is Santa Clara, California’s SVB Financial Group, the “most levered bank we cover to the innovation sector.” SVB has a 60 percent market share of that sector’s start-ups and is poised for loan growth as those customers get bigger, he says. —Carolyn Koo |
