< The 2014 All-Europe Research Team
& team Sanford C. Bernstein First-Place Appearances: 1
Total Appearances: 8
Team Debut: 2006 Leaping from No. 3 to seize its first top finish is Sanford C. Bernstein, whose London-based analysts have been directed by Oswald Clint since 2009. The three-member team follows 16 names and is known for its “deep dives into all aspects of [the] companies,” as one fund manager puts it. A current and long-standing favorite of Clint and his colleagues is U.K.-based natural gas provider BG Group. In January 2013 they reiterated their outperform position on BG, largely because its Brazilian oil fields represent “some of the highest-return barrels in the industry,” Clint says, but also thanks to “its liquefied-natural-gas business, where market fundamentals are tight.” By the end of December, the stock had soared to 1,297.50 pence, for a gain of 30.1 percent that bested the broad market by 21.6 percentage points. Clint, 39, earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland followed by a Ph.D. in geophysics from England’s University College London. He worked as a chemicals and oil consultant at auditing firm KPMG before joining Bernstein in 2005 as an associate analyst. Clint, a senior researcher covering oils names since 2008, “has integrity and intelligence,” insists another admirer.
