Gustavo Gattass & team BTG Pactual
The buy side says: “Gustavo is often the first to make big calls and is unafraid to pose tough questions.”
Vaulting back to first place after a year as runner-up — its third appearance at No. 1 in the past four years — is the BTG Pactual trio steered by Gustavo Gattass, who turns 36 this month. “Gustavo is the most insightful analyst in the energy sector,” asserts one buy-side supporter. In April the Rio de Janeiro–based analysts downgraded OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações from buy to neutral, at 19.65 reais, telling clients that management data about new oil discoveries were unconvincing. By the end of July, shares of the oil exploration and production company, which is headquartered in Rio, had plunged 34.2 percent, to R12.92, and trailed the sector by 21.1 percentage points. “This call was not only out of consensus — OGX was a darling of the sell side then — but also saved us money,” proclaims one investor.