2015 All-Latin America Research Team: North Andean Countries, No. 1: Diego Celedón, Benjamin Ramsey & team

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< The 2015 Latin America Research Team

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Diego Celedón, Benjamin Ramsey & teamJ.P. MorganFirst-Place Appearances: 4

Total Appearances: 22

Team Debut: 1994J.P. Morgan vaults from third place all the way to the winner’s circle, which it most recently occupied in 2011. Diego Celedón in Santiago and New York–headquartered newcomer Benjamin Ramsey co-pilot the three-person crew. Thirty-three-year-old Celedón serves as head of J.P. Morgan’s Southern Cone and Andean equity strategy and research. This year he also leads a squad that rises from third place to second on the Chile lineup; and together with Vladimir Werning, he guides a crew that warrants a runner-up position for its coverage of Argentina. Celedón moved to J.P. Morgan in October 2011 from Banchile Inversiones, where he was head of research. He previously covered Chilean utilities at Santander’s Santiago office and worked as a buy-side equity analyst at Bicecorp. The analyst holds a BS in business administration from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Co-leader Ramsey, 40, has been with J.P. Morgan since August 2000, and after multiple assignments covering economics in Latin America and the Caribbean, has been following Colombia and Venezuela since 2007. He earned a BA in political science and Spanish at New York’s Hobart and William Smith Colleges and a master’s degree in international affairs at the Johns Hopkins Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. These North Andean Countries researchers “stand out in many ways, but the best thing I can say about them is that their corporate access is exceptional,” attests one fund manager. “Their Bogotá-based conference in April was unique, with all the corporates and top politicians and important investors attending. It was also very well timed because of the severe impact of depressed oil prices on Colombia, which is also ramping up infrastructure spending — it really helped us identify opportunities.” Among the team’s favorite names of late are Credicorp, Peru’s largest financial holding company; and Bancolombia, the biggest commercial bank in Colombia. The former is recommended as “a core holding among Latin American bank stocks,” says Celedón. Highly dominant across all banking sectors and diversified into insurance, Credicorp is “an excellent way for investors to capitalize on Peru’s strong growth potential,” he adds. Moreover, the institution is shifting to higher-margin loans and boasts a return on equity of greater than 20 percent. Trading at $137 in mid-July, the New York Stock Exchange–listed shares are forecast to rise to $162. For its part Bancolombia is similarly “positively leveraged” to take advantage of expansion opportunities in its home market and is trading below regional peers, Celedón reports. The squad believes a price of 30,000 pesos is justified for the stock, which closed at 26,120 pesos in mid-July.

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