The 2007 Latin America Research Team

Analysts are as much in demand as Latin American stocks. Here are the ones voted best at covering the region.

With Latin American equity markets surging, sell-side firms are scrambling to add analysts and expand coverage to meet the rising demand for quality research. “We’re planning a massive expansion,” says Rowe Michels, New Yorkbased director of Latin American research for Bear, Stearns & Co., which recently hired analysts to cover consumer products and real estate and is looking to increase coverage of housing and construction.

Merrill Lynch also is actively expanding. Over the past year the firm nearly doubled the number of Latin American companies it covers, from 66 to 111, increasing its research staff from 27 to 32, says Adam Quinton, Merrill’s New Yorkbased head of Latin American research.

The activity comes as no surprise, given the recent performance of the region’s capital markets and a plethora of new equity offerings. Latin American stocks were up 10.8 percent this year through mid-May in local currency terms (15.4 percent in dollar terms), according to the MSCI Latin America price index, and that is on top of a 33.7 percent advance in 2006 and 32.9 percent the year before. Twelve initial public offerings came to market in the first quarter, two more than during the corresponding period last year, putting 2007 on pace to surpass last year’s record IPO level.

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