Fernando Ferreira, Isabella Simonato
& team
Bank of America Merrill Lynch
First-place appearances: 1

Total appearances: 5

Team debut: 2009

Bank of America Merrill Lynch claims third place for a second straight year. Co-captained by Fernando Ferreira, who is based in New York, and newcomer Isabella Simonato, who works out of São Paulo, the three-member team wins praise for being “very responsive” and publishing “very good, detailed work,” in the words of one enthusiast. The analysts are urging caution. “Although crops in South America — particularly in Brazil and Argentina — significantly recovered, given better weather conditions, grain prices are still down 4 percent year to date, as a result of a more balanced supply and demand globally,” Ferreira observes. Sugar prices are also expected to remain low, thanks to global oversupply, and fertilizer prices are likely to remain flat, he adds. Ferreira also co-leads, with Robert Ford, the No. 2 team in Food & Beverages.— Leslie Kramer