Christopher Senyek ISI
second team David Zion Credit Suisse
third team Dane Mott J.P. Morgan
Climbing one notch to claim top honors for the first time is Christopher Senyek of ISI Group, lauded by one money manager for being “ahead of the curve on the key issues impacting the financials.” In March, Senyek predicted that the Financial Accounting Standards Board would approve a highly controversial change to its mark-to-market rules that would allow banks to use internal, rather than external and observable, valuation methods for certain assets, but not in ways likely to have a material impact on capital requirements. He was right. The Norwalk, Connecticut–based governing board approved the change the following month. Senyek, 34, earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting at Ohio’s University of Akron in 1997 and worked as an accountant at Arthur Andersen and Bear Stearns before moving to ISI in May 2008.
David Zion of Credit Suisse slips to second place. “His reports are critical to understanding the changing accounting landscape,” insists one backer. Zion told investors in April that FASB was not finished revising its rules: “It looks like they will also require companies to beef up their disclosures.” In early July, FASB chairman Robert Herz unveiled plans to overhaul the agency’s disclosure rules to eliminate inconsistencies and improve financial reporting; deliberations are under way and the group expects to unveil specific proposals early next year.
Newcomer Dane Mott, who finishes in third place, wins praise from clients for his ongoing coverage of companies struggling with pension shortfalls. In October 2008 the J.P. Morgan researcher published “Pension Tension,” a report that listed companies with the largest funding exposures relative to their market capitalizations. Seven of the 20 outfits he identified as having the highest short-term risk have since filed for bankruptcy protection.
Click here to see the All-America Research Team rankings.
