third team Pedro Martins Jr., Fanny Oreng & team BofA–Merrill Lynch
On top for a second consecutive year — and for the sixth time in eight years — is the UBS Pactual foursome led by Damian Fraser, 44. “Their research is profound and accurate,” hails one enthusiastic buy-sider. The Mexico City–based squad produces a focus list of ten stocks they expect to outperform, and in December added the preferred shares of Brazil’s Net Serviços de Comunicação, citing the the cable TV and broadband-Internet provider’s manageable debt load and strong cash generation. The stock zipped from R13.17 to R19.05 through July and outperformed Mexico’s broad market by 8 percentage points.
Unranked since 2005, the J.P. Morgan team, now guided by new team leader Ben Laidler, captures second place. In February the New York-based economists adjusted their model portfolio to overweight the ADRs of Mexico’s Cemex, citing the building-materials manufacturer’s cost-cutting initiatives.
Through July the ADRs advanced from $7.96 to $9.39. Although they drop a notch to No. 3, the BofA-Merrill trio continues to win praise for their “deep regional knowledge,” in the words of one portfolio manager. The São Paulo–based team, co-led by Pedro Martins Jr. and newcomer Fanny Oreng, added Brazil’s Cía. de Concessões Rodoviárias to their focus list in December, based in part on the highway manager’s solid cash flow. Through July the stock zoomed 41.8 percent, from R21.51 to R30.50.
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