Jorge Kuri
& team
Morgan Stanley
First-place appearances: 1

Total appearances: 16

Team debut: 1994

Leaping from runner-up to second place is Morgan Stanley’s squad under Jorge Kuri, who also captains the crew at No. 3 in Financials/Nonbanks. “Performance of the sector has been mixed this year, with Mexican and Andean banks doing well relative to the MSCI LatAm [benchmark], while Brazilian banks — which we have been very cautious on — have performed poorly,” the New York–based leader explains. The analysts, who report on 13 stocks, expect similar results for the rest of the year. Hence they are urging clients to overweight shares of Mexico’s financial institutions. “Jorge’s major call was long the Mexican banks and short the Brazilian banks, and it has been spot on,” cheers one happy client. Adds another: “Jorge produces thought-provoking research. While I don’t necessarily agree with his views, he does make you think.” — Leslie Kramer