Lilyanna Yang & team J.P. Morgan
second team Felipe Leal & team BofA–Merrill Lynch
third team Felipe Mattar Citi
Lilyanna Yang shepherds the J.P. Morgan duo from runner-up to first place for the first time. Clients praise the team’s “exquisitely detailed models” and “unrivaled understanding of a complex and heavily regulated market.” In November the analysts upgraded Terna Participações to buy, at R18.50, on the belief that electricity distributor Cía. Energética de Minas Gerais would move to acquire the Brazil-based energy sector holding company. Sure enough, in April Cemig announced plans to buy a 66 percent stake in Terna. The stock sizzled up to R38.65 through July, a whopping 108.9 percent gain that left the sector’s 15.6 percent advance in the dark. Yang, 37, who is based in New York, graduated from the University of São Paulo with a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1993 and worked as an analyst at Bear Stearns before moving to J.P. Morgan in 2004.
Debuting in second place is the two-member BofA-Merrill team headed by Felipe Leal in São Paulo. The team downgraded AES Tietê’s preferred shares to hold in February, on valuation, and by late July they trailed the sector by 4 percentage points. Solo analyst Felipe Mattar rises one rung to third place. Mattar, who moved from Citi to Barclays Capital in June, upgraded the preferred shares of Eletropaulo Metropolitana Eletricidade de São Paulo to buy in December, at R26.35, saying fears of liability stemming from a loan-repayment lawsuit were overstated. Through July 31 the stock was up 32.1 percent, to R34.80.
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