Energy

Oil & Gas Mark Iannotti, Alastair Syme & team BofA–Merrill Lynch

second team Jonathan Rigby & team UBS

third team Stuart Joyner, James Neale & team Credit Suisse

runners-up Neil McMahon & team Sanford C. Bernstein; Mark Bloomfield, David Thomas & team Citi; Lucas Herrmann & team Deutsche; Theepan Jothilingam & team Morgan Stanley; Lucy Haskins, Michael Pickup & team Nomura

After three straight years in second place, Mark Iannotti and Alastair Syme lead the four-member Banc of America Securities–Merrill Lynch team up the final rung to first place. "They consistently provide a high-quality product," cheers one investor. In June the team downgraded a pair of petroleum refiners from neutral to underperform: Germany’s Petroplus Holdings, on concerns about its highly leveraged balance sheet, and MOL Hungarian Oil and Gas, on valuation. Through December the stocks sank 64.9 and 57.7 percent, respectively. During the same period the sector fell 25.2 percent.

Iannotti, 40, earned a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1990 at Scotland’s University of Strathclyde. Syme, 39, is a 1992 graduate of New Zealand’s University of Canterbury, with a bachelor’s degree in geology. Both men moved to Merrill from Citigroup in 2002; Syme moved to Nomura International last month. Leaping from runner-up to second place is the UBS trio guided by Jonathan Rigby . In July the team highlighted its long-standing buy recommendation on U.K.-based oil-and-gas explorer Imperial Energy Corp., at £10.74, after India’s state-run Oil and Natural Gas Corp. announced its intent to acquire the company. Imperial’s stock closed the year up 16.1 percent, at £12.47. The ONGC acquisition is expected to be completed next month. The Credit Suisse quartet, co-captained by Stuart Joyner and James Neale since Edward Westlake retired in December 2007, repeats in third place. In November the team downgraded Norwegian oil producer StatoilHydro to underperform, on declining demand. The stock had plunged 21.1 percent by year-end, trailing the sector by 17.0 percentage points.

Utilities

Per Lekander & team UBS

second team Simon Flowers & team BofA–Merrill Lynch

third team Bobby Chada, Emmanuel Turpin & team Morgan Stanley

runners-up Peter Atherton & team Citi; Raimundo Fernández-Cuesta & team Credit Suisse; Lueder Schumacher & team Dresdner Kleinwort

After two years at No. 2, Per Lekander pilots his UBS trio up one notch to first place. Lekander, 46, who divides his time between London and Paris, "has a deep understanding of the sector," says one buy-side enthusiast. The team downgraded Spanish electricity generator Iberdrola to neutral in April after speculation that French energy supplier Electricité de France might launch a takeover bid had driven the stock price up to €9.57. The rumors proved to be unfounded, and Iberdrola’s share price started to slide, ending the year down 31.7 percent, at €6.54. During the same period the sector fell 24.7 percent. Lekander earned a Ph.D. in microeconomics from Sweden’s Chalmers University of Technology in 1990 and spent nine years as a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. before joining UBS in December 2004. Rising one rung to second place is the three-strong Banc of America Securities–Merrill Lynch squad guided by Edinburgh-based Simon Flowers . In October the team downgraded Finland’s Fortum to underperform, at €23.87, on falling profits. By year’s end the power plant operator’s shares had plunged 36.2 percent, to €15.23. "They saved investors from a lot of pain," asserts one client. Rising from runner-up to third place is Morgan Stanley’s three-member crew under the direction of Bobby Chada and Emmanuel Turpin . In July the team initiated coverage of Portugal’s EDP Renováveis, a wind-energy provider, with a cautious equal weight, at €7.02, largely on valuation. The shares blew down to €5.00 through December. "They’re best on what stocks to avoid," explains one fan.

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