Economics & Strategy – Corporate Debt: Second

Alexey Bulgakov, who slips from first place to second, “has a detailed knowledge of individual credit stories and comes up with good-quality analysis and numbers you can trust,” attests one money manager. The Sberbank CIB strategist has a generally upbeat view — provided foreign investors remain interested. “The Russian bond market is more integrated in the global financial system than at any time in the past, so the expected returns will more depend on the global flows than anything else,” he explains. “As long as we hear from large long-term accounts that they see inflows, it will make sense to stay overweight Russia.” He is urging clients to load up on double-B-rated names; examples include such recent Eurobond issues as the 7 percent 2020 notes of Alliance Oil Co., an integrated energy producer headquartered in Moscow, and the 5.625 percent 2020 instruments of Moscow-based mining outfit Polyus Gold, each of which offers “a better price-quality ratio than its peers,” Bulgakov believes. — Thomas W. Johnson