Sara Delfim, Ronald Epstein & team BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research
The buy side says: “They’re very good at unlocking value in lesser-known stocks.”
Rising one rung to finish on top for the first time is the BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research squad, piloted this year by São Paulo–based Sara Delfim, 36, and new co-leader Ronald Epstein, 42; he replaces Michael Linenberg, who joined Deutsche Bank Securities in June, and is based in New York.
The three-member team upgraded Iochpe-Maxion from neutral to buy in November, at a split-adjusted R11.50, partly on the strength of the Brazilian auto-parts and railway-equipment manufacturer’s September acquisition of a division of auto-components supplier ArvinMeritor. The stock had raced to R19.49 by the end of July, a gain of 69.5 percent that blew past the sector by 45.2 percentage points.
Delfim, who earned a bachelor’s degree in economics at the Universidade de São Paulo in 1996, worked at Indosuez W.I. Carr Securities and Bear, Stearns & Co. before joining Merrill Lynch in 2008. Epstein joined Merrill in 2001 after earning an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “They are very fast at putting out flash notes and voice-drops on breaking news,” asserts one buy-side backer.
