Industries – Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals: Third

The Itaú BBA duo directed by Paula Kovarsky slips from second place to third. “Last year was marked by difficulties in getting environmental permits and a resurgence of guerrilla manifestations in Colombia, hurting production growth in that country,” the São Paulo–based leader says. “But things seem to be improving on the licensing front, so we expect the process to get smoother over time.” The analysts track 13 stocks and plan to grow that total later this year. Their current favorite is Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp., a Canada-based oil and gas exploration and production outfit with facilities in Colombia and Peru. “We expect this year to be better from an operational standpoint, with growing production and cost reductions in the Colombian operations,” she says. “But the real catalyst to the stock’s performance is in managing to convince the market that the company is really committed to finding a better balance between growth and shareholder return.” One client especially appreciates the researchers’ unconventional approach. “The team’s outstanding industry knowledge provides a good support to our stock-picking process, as we attribute much more value to those analysts who help us with an ‘out of the box’ view,” this portfolio manager says. — Leslie Kramer