Brian Chase & team J.P. Morgan
The buy side says: “He knows the companies inside and out.”
In first place for a second consecutive year is the seven-member J.P. Morgan squad led by Brian Chase, who also directs the No. 1 team in North Andean Countries and the No. 2 team in Argentina. Chase, 33, is based in Santiago, and that gives him a distinct advantage, according to one buy-side backer: “He lives in Chile and is really the only analyst from one of the big houses dedicated to the country.” The team upgraded the American depositary receipts of Sociedad Química y Minera de Chile from neutral to overweight in November, at $50.74, based on strong demand for fertilizers and specialty chemicals in the Santiago-based company’s key markets. The stock had shot to $64.32 by the end of July, a 26.8 percent advanced that bested the Chilean broad market by 37.1 percentage points. The researchers remain bullish on the stock.
