Alexander Burgansky & team Renaissance
second team Oleg Maximov & team Troika
third team Karen Kostanian & team BofA Merrill Lynch
RenCap rules the roost for a third straight year. The two-member team led by Alexander Burgansky, 37, publishes “useful, fundamental, analysis-based research that shows a deep understanding of the Russian oil industry,” according to one money manager. In December 2008 the Moscow-based analysts told clients that oil prices would recover, and among the stocks they recommended were Rosneft Oil Co., at $3.43, and Lukoil Oil Co., at $28.20. By late January 2010, Rosneft had advanced 123 percent, to $7.65, and Lukoil was up 91.5 percent, to $54. During the same period the sector rose 49.5 percent.
The Troika trio helmed by Oleg Maximov repeats in second place. Lauded for “having strong opinions and the ability to defend them,” in the words of one backer, the Moscow-based team advised investors in April to buy the GDRs of NovaTek, at $27, citing the Russian natural-gas producer’s strong growth prospects. The stock catapulted 164.8 percent, to $71.50, through January.
Newcomer Karen Kostanian guides the BofA troupe to a third-place finish. “This team understands what the buy side needs,” says one fund manager. In September the researchers turned bullish on Russia’s oil services subsector, on the belief that the companies were attractively valued. The subsector had shot up 67.7 percent and led the sector by 8 points by mid-November, when the team downgraded it to neutral. The subsector had advanced only 1.2 percent further by late January, trailing the sector by 1.6 points.
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