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Manoj Menon
Deutsche Bank
First-place appearances: 3

Total appearances: 3

Analyst debut: 2011

Deutsche Bank’s Manoj Menon, 38, leads this roster for a third year running and repeats at No. 1 in Consumer/Discretionary. As last year, Menon earns the distinction of being the only analyst to capture first place in more than one category. “He has deep knowledge of the sector, having worked with Unilever,” praises one client, referencing the analyst’s tenure as a commercial manager with Hindustan Unilever, a manufacturer of consumer packaged goods. “Menon has the respect of managements at the companies he covers,” the investor adds. In March the researcher upgraded his former employer to buy from neutral, reasoning that the stock had overcorrected from its peak — the shares were then down 19.8 percent from the multiyear high of 567.46 rupees they recorded in October 2012, while the sector was flat over that five-month period. Furthermore, although the Mumbai-based company’s strong sales volumes had been factored into the share price, he says, its pent-up pricing power had not. Then in June, after the stock had climbed 28.1 percent and paced the sector by 15.6 percentage points, he downgraded it to hold, advising clients that it had risen about as far as it was likely to. Hindustan Unilever inched up to 603 rupees through mid-October, trailing the sector by 2.8 percentage points. — Katie Gilbert