Oil & Gas 2009 All-Russia Research Team

Climbing the final rung to finish on top for the first time, Oleg Maximov impresses investors with “elegantly written research” and a “long record of profitable picks.”

Oleg Maximov Troika

second team Alexander Burgansky Renaissance

third team Pavel Kushnir Deutsche

Climbing the final rung to finish on top for the first time, Oleg Maximov impresses investors with “elegantly written research” and a “long record of profitable picks.” Maximov, 38, joined Troika Dialog in 2003 after serving as a buy-side analyst covering emerging-markets stocks for the United Services Automobile Association in Austin, Texas; he earned a master’s degree in public administration from New Jersey’s Rutgers University in 1996. In January Maximov told clients to buy NovaTek, calling the global depositary receipts of the natural-gas producer a bargain at $19.58. The GDRs soared to $35.50 through April, an 81.3 percent gain that far outpaced the oil and gas sector’s 36.5 percent advance. Alexander Burgansky of Renaissance Capital, who slips one notch to second place, “is helpful in both good times and bad,” insists one supporter. In April 2008, Burgansky downgraded Urals Energy to sell, at 171.5p, citing the oil and gas producer’s excessive debt. By the end of April 2009, the stock had plummeted 92.3 percent, to 13.25p. Deutsche Bank’s Pavel Kushnir finishes in third place for a second straight year. “He identifies investment ideas ahead of the consensus,” observes one money manager. Case in point: Kushnir’s January recommendation to buy shares of Rosneft Oil Co. on the belief that energy exporters would likely post higher earnings as the ruble weakened against the dollar. The stock had bubbled up 57 percent by the end of April.

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