Marcelo Telles
& team
Credit Suisse
First-place appearances: 4

Total appearances: 12

Team debut: 1993

The Credit Suisse trio tumbles from first place to third, but the analysts continue to win praise for “widespread coverage and get-to-the-point comments that make it easy for foreign institutional investors to understand and track the financial sector,” as one money manager puts it. The team, under the direction of Marcelo Telles since 2011, has a positive outlook for the year ahead. “A higher-rate environment will be beneficial for margins,” the São Paulo–based leader believes. Top pick among the 14 companies the researchers follow: Brazil’s Itaú Unibanco Holding. “It is the cheapest stock in our coverage universe and is currently trading at multiples below historical levels,” Telles says. Also highly recommended is Mexico’s Grupo Financiero Banorte, which in July sold some 450 million shares in a follow-on offering that raised roughly 32 billion pesos ($2.5 billion). “Valuations have returned to more reasonable levels after the recent sell-off, and removal of the overhang following the equity offering should benefit the stock — which looks attractive even after the share dilution,” he adds.— Leslie Kramer