David Gagliano
Barclays
First-place appearances: 0

Total appearances: 5

Team debut: 2009

Rising from runner-up to the third team is Barclays’s David Gagliano. Improving client service — by adding more frequent phone calls and field trips, and introducing an industry conference in New York in March — has been a primary focus of the past year, says Gagliano. The effort has paid dividends. “Dave is on the ball and consistently helpful in our investment selections,” attests one fund manager. A current recommendation is Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold, on which he reinstated coverage in June with an overweight rating, at $29.77. The analyst advised clients that the addition of oil and gas assets to the Phoenix-based mineral-resources explorer’s portfolio through its recently completed acquisitions of Plains Exploration & Production Co. and McMoRan Exploration Co. would propel the shares. By the end of August, they had inched up only 1.5 percent, to $30.22, but Gagliano deems Freeport-McMoRan “the most compelling long-term investment opportunity” among the 30 stocks he tracks.  — Ben Mattlin