< The 2014 All-Europe Fixed-Income Research Team

2014-03-tom-johnson-all-europe-fixed-income-research-team-high-yield-nitin-dias.jpg

2014-03-tom-johnson-all-europe-fixed-income-research-team-high-yield-stephanie-renegar.jpg
Nitin Dias,
Stephanie Renegar & team
J.P. Morgan
First-Place Appearances: 1

Total Appearances: 3

Team Debut: 2011

The foursome under the guidance of Nitin Dias, 34, and Stephanie Renegar, 33, rises from second place to plant the J.P. Morgan flag atop this roster for the first time. Dias and Renegar also jointly head the teams that capture the No. 2 slots in both High-Yield and Investment-Grade Manufacturing/General Industrials as well as third place in Investment-Grade Basic Materials. Indeed, remarks one advocate, these London-based researchers are “dominant throughout the space.” They monitor some 70 bond issuers, down from 90 last year, and their coverage of the chemicals segment garners particular praise. In September 2012 the squad dubbed Kerling's 10.625 percent 2017 notes a top trade. The Norwegian specialty plastics producer's earnings were poised to rise thanks in part to declining ethylene prices, the analysts advised. At the end of 2013, the credits were trading at €106.52, advancing 9.8 percent in the preceding 12 months alone. In January 2013 they reiterated their overweight rating on the five-year credit default swaps of Kerling's parent company, Switzerland-based diversified-chemicals giant Ineos Group Holdings, as similarly undervalued. By year-end the CDSs had tightened from 418 basis points to 110 basis points. “They cover a wide swath of credits with a degree of detail and market sensitivity that no one else can match,” declares one investor. Dias joined J.P. Morgan in 2004 from consulting services provider Hewitt Associates, armed with a bachelor's degree in engineering from India's National Institute of Technology Karnataka and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. His co-leader covered high-grade corporate credits for Wachovia Securities before jumping to J.P. Morgan in New York in 2006; she moved to London a year later. Renegar earned a bachelor's degree in economics from North Carolina's Duke University.