Human Capital: The Best Places to Work in Europe Outperform by 8.1% p.a.

Research evidence excerpt

Human Capital: The Best Places to Work in Europe Outperform by 8.1% p.a.

EUROPE | Sustainability & Transition

Strategy June 29, 2026

Exhibit 1 - Europe's best employers compoundHuman Capital: The Best Places to Work in

at 9.8% annually versus 1.7% for the STOXX

600Europe Outperform by 8.1% p.a.

We have long focused on human capital as a driver of alpha (here). The

quality of a company's human capital is even more imperative in the AI era.

We analyse the 2026 FT/Statista Best Employers ranking. KTs: 1) European

domiciled companies delivered avg. total returns of +9.8%/pa since Aug'

2000 (vs 1.7%/pa Stoxx 600); 2) Advanced Industrials (Skanska, Airbus,

Andritz, Safran) emerged as the dominant sector, showcasing Europe's . Source: Factset, FT, Statista, Jefferies Analysis

competitiveness in that sector.

Exhibit 2 - The best employers'

outperformance becomes much stronger once

Europe's best employers compound returns roughly 5x faster than the STOXX 600. We take non-European names are included.

the top 100 companies from the FT/Statista Europe's Best Employers ranking, filter to publicly

listed entities & construct two market cap weighted baskets: 1) an EU only basket (37 names)

and; 2) a full public basket inc. non-EU firms (54 names) (Table 1). We calculate cumulative

total price returns (dividends reinvested), indexed to 100 from 31 August 2000 to 1 June 2026.

The EU only basket rises from 100 to 1,117, vs. 157 for the STOXX 600, implying a 9.8% CAGR

vs. 1.7%. This represents an annual gap of ~800bps sustained over nearly 26 years (Ex. 1). This

is not a short term anomaly. The gap compounds steadily across market cycles, recessions .

& recoveries. Source: Factset, FT, Statista, Jefferies Analysis

The signal strengthens when global leaders are included.