Peter O’Connor, Yongtao Shi & team Bank of America Merrill Lynch
The buy side says: “They’re very responsive and pro-active on stock picking.”
Sydney-based Peter O’Connor and Yongtao Shi, who works out of Hong Kong, captain the 15-strong Bank of America Merrill Lynch squad from third place to first. The analysts, who follow 90 stocks, are hailed for being “in the loop, and always able to provide a lot of good color on companies and the industry,” in the words of one client. The team believes that by year-end commodities prices will be 10 to 20 percent above their first-quarter averages — and, Shi says, “we expect this trend to continue into next year, with the majority of commodities recording higher prices in 2013 than 2011.” O’Connor, 48, is a graduate of Australia’s University of New South Wales with a bachelor’s degree in engineering; he worked at Credit Suisse before joining BofA Merrill in 2009. Shi, 38, was hired that same year from AllianceBernstein; he holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. — Paul Sweeney
