Industries: Aerospace, Transportation & Industrials

Rodrigo Góes & team BTG Pactual

After five years in first place, the BTG Pactual team steered by Rodrigo Góes slips a notch to second. “They talk to everyone — including closely held, nonlisted companies — so they give you the big picture,” explains one longtime fan. Among the São Paulo–based trio’s best calls was a bullish stance on Multiplus, a company created in June 2009 to manage the mileage program for Brazil’s largest airline, Tam Linhas Aéreas.

The team’s thesis was that, despite some conflict-of-interest concerns, its stock offered an “attractive risk-reward profile, driven by strong cash generation, valuation and the company’s long-term growth prospects.” The analysts initiated coverage in April with a buy rating, at R18.35, not long after the company went public, in February at R16 a share. The stock had soared 17.2 percent by late July, to R21.50.