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Anand Kumar
Bank of America
Merrill Lynch
First-place appearances: 2

Total appearances: 2

Analyst debut: 2011

“Sincere and hardworking,” as one portfolio manager describes him, Anand Kumar of Bank of America Merrill Lynch notches his second first-place finish in this shrinking sector. In October 2012, Mumbai-based Kingfisher Airlines buckled under its debts and was forced to suspend all flights, leaving competitors Jet Airways (India) and SpiceJet free to raise their prices and expand market share. This did not catch Kumar by surprise — he had upgraded both stocks from underperform to buy in August 2012, in part on expectation of Kingfisher’s flight reductions. By year-end shares of Jet Airways, a full-service airline based in Mumbai, had rocketed 50.6 percent, to 559.30 rupees; and Gurgaon-based budget carrier SpiceJet had soared 39 percent, to 44 rupees. Kumar, 33, acknowledges hosting no field trips or conferences over the past year, with just two names under coverage, and is now restricted from discussing Jet Airways, which his firm advised in its proposed sale of a 24 percent stake to the United Arab Emirates’ Etihad Airways. But he still recommends SpiceJet as a bargain; its shares were trading at 20.80 rupees in mid-October. “SpiceJet will benefit from increasing share of international business and favorable demand-supply dynamics in the domestic segment,” he says. Clients find Kumar’s analyses invaluable. “Anand is extremely well connected, and he understands the political, legal and currency risks that continually buffet these stocks,” shares another asset manager. — Ben Mattlin