< The 2015 Latin America Research Team
Nicole Hirakawa, Vanessa Quiroga & teamCredit SuisseFirst-Place Appearances: 1
Total Appearances: 4
Team Debut: 2012A runner-up the past two years, Credit Suisse’s crew co-captained by Nicole Hirakawa and Vanessa Quiroga bolts all the way to first place, displacing the BTG Pactual team that led this lineup for three years. São Paulo–based Hirakawa, 30, spent four years in the homebuilding industry, starting while still a student at Brazil’s Universidade de São Paulo, where she earned a BA in business administration. She tracked this sector for Morgan Stanley before moving to Credit Suisse in April 2013. Hirakawa made her first appearance on this roster last year, joining 34-year-old Quiroga, who works out of Mexico City and debuted here in 2012. Quiroga signed on with the firm in March 2004 after receiving a bachelor’s degree in economics from Mexico’s Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey. This year the duo also co-leads a squad that merits a runner-up position on the Cement & Construction roster. The three analysts reporting on Latin America’s real estate names provide ”research that is always well supported with concrete arguments and proper models,” comments one fund manager. In addition, another client says, “they are always helpful in answering our requests on a timely matter.” Of the 18 stocks they follow, a current favorite is Prologis Property Mexico, a real estate investment trust that develops properties for use in the infrastructure, logistics and manufacturing industries. They upgraded the stock from neutral to outperform in March, at 27.30 pesos, citing both earnings momentum and its exposure to the dollar at a time of depreciation for the local currency. In mid-July the stock was trading at 26.98 pesos, down 1.2 percent but ahead of its regional peers by 4.7 percentage points. Credit Suisse’s researchers believe that a price of 34 pesos is justified.