Jamminder (Jimmy) Bhullar J.P. Morgan
The buy side says: “Jimmy provides the gold standard in client service.”
Jamminder (Jimmy) Bhullar moves up one notch to claim first-place honors for the first time. “Jimmy is very service-oriented and responsive to requests; plus, he really knows his companies well and, importantly, is focused on the key stock drivers,” proclaims one backer. Bhullar, 33, who earned a bachelor’s degree in finance and accounting at Southern Methodist University in Dallas in 1999, joined J.P. Morgan in 2000 after a brief stint at PaineWebber. The analyst upgraded Torchmark Corp. from neutral to overweight in February, at $43.84, judging concerns about the McKinney, Texas–based middle-market insurance carrier’s capital reserves to be overblown. Three weeks later management announced a share buyback, and the stock catapulted to $56.06 in April before settling down to $49.35 in late August, gaining 12.6 percent since the upgrade while the Standard & Poor’s 500 life and health insurance index advanced only 4 percent. Bhullar “makes timely calls, provides excellent written research and knows the industry better than his peers,” insists one backer.
