Alastair Syme & team Nomura
second team Mark Iannotti & team BofA Merrill Lynch
third team Lucas Herrmann & team Deutsche
Alastair Syme, who was co-captain of last year’s top-ranked BofA team, returns to the winner’s circle — this time as sole leader of the four-member crew at Nomura, which the 40-year-old analyst joined in April. The team, a runner-up last year, is “essential for information and recommendations,” insists one buy-sider. In May the researchers advised investors that shares of U.K.-based energy behemoth BP were a bargain at 487.44p. By the end of the year, they had shot up to 600p, a 23.1 percent gain that beat the sector by 11.4 percentage points.
The six-strong BofA squad, guided solely by Mark Iannotti since Syme’s departure, slips to second place, but the analysts “continue to deliver a high-quality product backed by equally strong service,” says one longtime backer. The team upgraded Austrian integrated oil provider OMV from neutral to buy in January 2009, at €19.36, largely on valuation. By late December it had catapulted 57.4 percent, to €30.48.
Climbing from runner-up to third place is the Deutsche trio helmed by Lucas Herrmann. The team, considered “a step ahead of the competition” by one portfolio manager, also alerted their clients to a moneymaking opportunity in BP, which they upgraded from hold to buy last February, at 419.03p. The stock gained 43.2 percent through December, outpacing the sector by 20.1 points.
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