Crash Claims the Life of Top-Ranked U.S. Analyst

J.P. Morgan’s Joseph Nadol, who has held the No. 1 spot in the Aerospace & Defense Electronics sector on Institutional Investor’s All-America Research Team for the past six years, was among the six victims of a fiery train crash on February 3 in Valhalla, New York, just northeast of New York City.

Nadol, 42, was “a wonderful colleague who always took the time to mentor and encourage junior analysts and represented the highest standards of J.P. Morgan global research. He’ll be remembered for his many personal qualities, especially his thoughtfulness toward co-workers and his sense of humor,” according to an e-mail distributed to the firm’s employees and signed by Joyce Chang, J.P. Morgan’s director of global research; Noelle Grainger, head of global equity research; and Nicholas Rosato, who oversees North America equity research.

Nadol earned a bachelor’s degree in government at Harvard University in 1995 before joining Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette as a real estate analyst. He moved to J.P. Morgan in 2001 and debuted on the All-America Research Team two years later, as a runner-up in Aerospace & Defense Electronics. He slipped from the roster the following year but returned in 2008, in third place, winning praise from one money manager for being “a critical thinker who is not afraid to take controversial views.”

The analyst’s six-year winning streak began in 2009. “Joe is more knowledgeable and has better ideas than anyone else in the space,” declared one buy-side backer in 2010.

“His views move the stocks more than any other analyst covering the sector,” insisted another.

Supporters contacted for Nadol’s 2014 profile praised the researcher for “asking tough and thoughtful questions” and taking “an independent stance.”

Nadol was a passenger on a Metro-North commuter train that slammed into a vehicle that had stopped on the tracks. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating.