Jonathan Hocking & team, Morgan Stanley

After three years in the runner-up spot, the Morgan Stanley troupe under Jonathan Hocking advances to third place. Seven team members, including Hocking, work out of London and an eighth is in Mumbai; together they follow 36 stocks, two more than last year at this time. One investor appreciates the way the group digs into company details “while remaining aware of the bigger picture in a sector that is hard to value at the moment.” Most insurers have been exposed to greater risk stemming from rising yields on certain sovereign European debt, so the analysts have been advising clients to consider high-quality names that are well capitalized, with built-in resistance to low interest rates. Among the companies the team currently favors are Germany’s Allianz, U.K.-based Amlin and ING Groep, which is headquartered in the Netherlands.