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G. Vijayaraghavan
Batlivala & Karani Securities India
First-place appearances: 2

Total appearances: 2

Analyst debut: 2012

Capturing first place for a second year running, G. Vijayaraghavan of Batlivala & Karani Securities India is “an all-weather analyst,” as one fund manager puts it, whose stock-picking skills draw particular praise. “What’s best about him,” declares another backer, “is his combination of business and stock market understanding, supported by amazing channel contacts.” Favorites among the dozen companies Vijayaraghavan tracks are Bayer CropScience and Kaveri Seed Co. In July 2012 the researcher highlighted his buy rating on Bayer CS, after the Mumbai-based supplier of seeds and agrichemicals posted a revenue surge. Three weeks later he reiterated his outperform stance on Kaveri, a Secunderabad-based corn- and cotton-seed producer, citing better-than-expected sales growth and rapid market-share gains. By the middle of October 2013, the stocks had blossomed 109.8 percent, to 1,600.90 rupees, and 89.1 percent, to 1,492.15 rupees, respectively. Moreover, Kaveri’s performance bested the S&P BSE Sensex Index’s by 72.6 percentage points. Vijayaraghavan, 31, joined B&K in 2006 after earning a bachelor’s degree in computer science then an MBA from Bharathiar University in Coimbatore. “He has the best knowledge of the sector,” concludes another loyalist. — Ben Mattlin