Anand Agarwal
Jefferies
First-place appearances: 1

Total appearances: 3

Analyst debut: 2011

Jefferies researcher Anand Agarwal, who advances one rung to third place, “has great predictive value,” one client cheers, and “is highly responsive and a very good stock picker,” in the words of another money manager. Agarwal has been warning investors to be selective. “The best stocks to invest in in the real estate sector are the ones with strong earnings growth and positive free-cash-flow generation, with a low gearing on [the] balance sheet,” he explains. Accordingly, in February he highlighted his September 2011 sell position on DLF. The New Delhi–based builder of offices, homes and shopping malls was showing no signs of improvement by those metrics, he says. By the middle of October, DLF’s shares had plummeted 42 percent, to 153.45 rupees, not far off the sector’s 44.9 percent decline. — Katie Gilbert