Brian Chase & team J.P. Morgan
The buy side says: “Brian Chase has been adding value in Chile for a long time.”
Rising one rung to rule the roost for the first time is the J.P. Morgan quintet led by Brian Chase; he also helms the No. 1 team in North Andean Countries. The Santiago, Chile–based crew initiated coverage of Lan Airlines in November with an overweight recommendation, at 7,315.50 Chilean pesos, citing increasing air traffic and the Chilean currency’s growth against the U.S. dollar. Shares of the passenger and freight carrier soared 70.1 percent through July, to 12,442 pesos, leaving the broad market’s 33.7 percent advance trailing behind. Also in November the team upgraded Enersis from neutral to overweight, at 191 pesos, on the electricity distributor’s vigorous cash flow and rising demand. In February, after the stock had sizzled up 27.3 percent, to 243.08 pesos, the analysts lowered it to neutral, on valuation. By late July, Enersis shares had slipped 7 percent, to 225.90 pesos. Chase, 32, is a 2000 graduate of Rhode Island’s Brown University with dual bachelor’s degrees in business economics and organizational behavior and management; he joined J.P. Morgan in April 2008 from UBS. “His knowledge of the local market is unsurpassed,” cheers one money manager.
