< The 2015 All-America Research Team
Michael Carrier
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
First-place appearances: 0
Total appearances: 5
Analyst debut: 2011
This year Michael Carrier secures his first top-three appearance on this roster, improving on the runner-up showing he posted the past four years. The analyst joined Bank of America Merrill Lynch in October 2012 from Deutsche Bank Securities. He previously covered this sector for UBS and holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting from Ohio State University. Carrier earns investors plaudits for his broad expertise. “It seems like he covers more stocks than anyone else, and his knowledge is encyclopedic,” one enthusiast remarks. “Mike is who you call when you need the deep dive on a company or an issue.” At this stage of the market cycle, returns are more modest across the entire sector, the researcher reports. “However, we still see some opportunities,” he adds, “given rising M&A activity, higher interest rates on the horizon, an expected pickup in volatility and volumes and an ongoing allocation to alternatives and other growth areas.” Among the companies he prefers is Atlanta-based Intercontinental Exchange, a commodities, energy and futures exchange operator that should benefit from higher volatility and volumes as well as ongoing synergies and capital deployment. Two brokerages that also win Carrier’s favor are New York’s Morgan Stanley, owing to its exposure to higher interest rates, wealth management, M&A and trading; and Charles Schwab Corp. of San Francisco, with its healthy organic growth and upside to rates increases.