< The 2015 Latin America Research Team
Alonso Aramburú, César Pérez-Novoa & teamBTG PactualFirst-Place Appearances: 3
Total Appearances: 13
Team Debut: 1993Repeating in first place is BTG Pactual’s 11-person troupe under the direction of 43-year-old co-captains Alonso Aramburú and César Pérez-Novoa. The researchers’ strong suit is their “rapid response to news flow and current events, with analysis that’s trenchant and on point,” one fund manager maintains. “Whether it’s on politics or an industry-specific event, they’re always the first to market.” Currently, the team is advising investors to buy shares of Santiago’s Colbún, which generates, distributes and transmits electricity and power capacity. The utility is poised to benefit from an increase in the number of power-generation sources, largely from the expansion of the more economical hydroelectricity industry. This changing mix, which the group forecasts will continue apace through the end of the year, should “boost margins,” Pérez-Novoa says. Moreover, thanks to long-term contracts, Colbún’s continued access to liquid natural gas “adds certainty to the sourcing of cheaper fuel and thus the ability to sustain greater profitability in the future,” he adds. BTG Pactual’s analysts also recommend favoring CorpBanca, the nation’s fourth-largest private lender, citing as catalysts the stable operating dynamics in Chile and continuing opportunities to produce synergies in Colombia, the Santiago-based bank’s two primary markets. Announced in February 2014, the proposed merger between CorpBanca and the Chilean and Colombian units of Brazil’s largest private sector bank, Itaú Unibanco Holding, is expected to close early next year. The deal remains a key driver of stock value, he notes, as the financial institution sets its sights on new markets in Chile, Columbia, Peru and Central America. Aramburú, who is headquartered in New York, and Santiago-based Pérez-Novoa also guide their North Andean Countries group to a second straight No. 2 finish. As they also did last year, Aramburú, with Eduardo Rosman, oversees runner-up teams in the two Financials sectors, Banks and Nonbanks; while Pérez-Novoa pairs with Leonardo Correa in steering the second-place crew on the Pulp & Paper roster. That duo also heads the squad that rises from third place to first on the Metals & Mining list.
