Vinícius Canheu
& team
Credit Suisse
First-place appearances: 2

Total appearances: 15

Team debut: 1994

Down one notch to No. 2 is the Credit Suisse duo directed by Vinícius Canheu in São Paulo. The analysts track 16 stocks, one more than a year ago, and expect to add more names in the year ahead. Known for “consistently balanced analysis, no matter the consensus,” as one wealth manager in Mexico City puts it, they wisely stuck with a September 2010 downgrade of Eletropaulo Metropolitana Eletricidade de São Paulo from neutral to underperform, on the belief that the shares were overvalued at 26.71 reais. The researchers pounded the table in July 2012 as plummeting net income signaled that the Brazil-based electric power generator would be forced to slash dividends. In February the utility reported that year-over-year net income had plunged more than 93 percent in 2012, from 1.57 billion reais ($694.53 million) to 107.95 million reais, and by mid-July the shares had tumbled to 6.35 reais, sinking 69.1 percent in the trailing 12 months alone. During the same period the sector tumbled 24.9 percent. — Ben Mattlin