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Alberto Gandolfi,
Per Lekander
& team
UBS
"I like the fact that they tune out market noise and keep the focus on fundamentals."
UBS ruled the roost from 2009 through 2011 before plunging to runner-up in 2012, but this year the team of six is back on top. Under the guidance of 35-year-old Alberto Gandolfi, who is headquartered in London, and Paris-based Per Lekander, 50, the first-teamers follow 31 stocks and earn high marks for "in-depth knowledge and objective data," in the words of one Scandinavian buy-sider. The analysts pounded the table on Drax Group in early August, after shares of the U.K. operator of coal-fired power plants had plunged nearly 23 percent in the course of a week. The sell-off was triggered by concerns that the British government might cut subsidies for renewable energy more sharply than originally anticipated. Drax had been converting to renewable fuels known as biomass — made up primarily of agricultural waste — and the researchers explained why they felt this was still a cost-effective strategy. By the end of the year, the stock had rallied 16.7 percent, from 466.77p to 544.50p, and the team continues to recommend it. — Ben Mattlin