Yaroslav Lissovolik
Deutsche Bank
In second place for a third consecutive year is Yaroslav Lissovolik, who also secures a runner-up spot in Equity Strategy. In April the Deutsche Bank economist reduced his 2013 estimate for Russia’s real gross domestic product expansion from 4.3 percent all the way down to 3.1 percent, “on the back of the persistence of high net capital outflows and the resulting weakness in fixed-investment growth,” he explains. “The main bottlenecks are underdevelopment of infrastructure and lack of investment.” These problems can’t be solved by fiscal stimulus, he adds, but rather by structural reforms that would make Russia a more appealing destination for foreign capital. Consumer stocks, which outpaced energy and industrials in the first five months of the year, should continue to do well, he believes: “As long as equities in emerging markets and Russia remain under pressure, the consumer sector will continue to enjoy the status of a relative safe haven.” Lissovolik “is one of the very few analysts who is able to ignore the market noise and reach genuinely independent conclusions,” observes one Moscow-based money manager. “He has a clarity of thought which derives from long experience and a deep understanding of the Russian economic and political situation.” — Thomas W. Johnson