Ian Shackleton & team
Nomura International
I an Shackleton guides the four-member Nomura International squad from runner-up back to second place, the position the group held in 2011. “Ian has experience and has been following his companies for a long time,” notes one senior analyst at a New York–based hedge fund. The quartet — consisting of three analysts who are based in London, plus one who works out of Mumbai — is in the process of expanding its global coverage and plans to add several stocks to the stable of 16 that it follows now. Given those companies’ high valuation levels relative to the broader market, “any further outperformance will have to be driven by earnings,” Shackleton says. The team favors distributors of spirits over breweries, largely because of a recent acceleration in U.S. demand and the potential for mergers and acquisitions. Both factors contribute to U.K.-based Diageo’s being the analysts’ top pick for the year. — Katie Gilbert