Marcos Buscaglia,
Frank McGann
& team
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
First-place appearances: 3

Total appearances: 12

Team debut: 1994

Bank of America Merrill Lynch leaps from runner-up to second place — its best showing in more than a decade. This year the team is directed by New York–based Marcos Buscaglia, sole leader last year, and Frank McGann, who captained the crew in 2009 (when it also earned a runner-up spot). McGann works out of Buenos Aires and also oversees the squad at No. 2 in Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals, while Buscaglia co-leads (with Felipe Hirai) one that captures a runner-up position for coverage of Chile. The analysts’ outlook is mixed. They are urging clients to be wary of Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales, the Buenos Aires–based oil and gas exploration and production company that was renationalized last year — a move that triggered lawsuits from shareholders. “The political environment in Argentina remains a key risk for YPF, especially with regard to pricing,” Buscaglia explains. The researchers predict that the company’s American depositary receipts, which were trading at $15.24 in mid-July, could plummet to $6.50 by the end of the year. They are more upbeat about the prospects for Tenaris, a Luxembourg-headquartered steel-pipe manufacturer with facilities in Argentina and other Latin American countries. Rated buy on the strength of the company’s improving earnings and rising cash flow, Tenaris’s ADRs were at $43.10 in mid-July; the analysts have a target price of $47. Buscaglia and McGann are “a great combination,” cheers one happy client. — Paul Sweeney