Eduardo Lecubarri & team J.P. Morgan
second team Alexander Hugh, Bosco Ojeda & team UBS
third team Carole Rozen & team CA Cheuvreux
J.P. Morgan sent Eduardo Lecubarri from New York to London in 2007 with an express mandate to build the bank’s small-cap franchise, and this year he delivered, leading the two-analyst team from runner-up to No. 1. Lecubarri, 36, “has been an idea factory,” declares one hedge fund manager. Among the team’s best calls of the past year was a June valuation-driven upgrade to buy on U.K.-based auto retailer Inchcape, at 18.50p. The stock had sped to 29.85p by late December, a gain of 61.4 percent that left the sector’s 26.5 percent advance in the dust. Lecubarri, who earned an MBA at Pennsylvania State University in 1998, was a small-cap analyst at Smith Barney and Bear, Stearns & Co. before joining J.P. Morgan in 2004.
After five years in first place under the direction of Pedro Baptista, who left the firm in July, the 20-strong UBS troupe co-led by newcomers Alexander Hugh in London and Bosco Ojeda in Madrid slips to second place, but the analysts continue to provide a “great focus on niche areas, where they add value,” according to one buy-sider. Triumphs include recommending Norwegian fish farmer Marine Harvest in April, as an emerging demand story; by the time the team downgraded the stock to neutral, in November, it had hooked gains of 93.3 percent. Since the downgrade the stock had slipped 1.9 percent, by the end of December.
Carole Rozen’s 20-member Crédit Agricole Cheuvreux troupe repeats in third. The team recommended Swedish vacuum manufacturer Electrolux in March, at 68 Swedish kronor, on valuation. By year-end the stock had roared to Skr167.50, an eye-popping 146.3 percent advance.
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