Nicole Hirakawa, Vanessa Quiroga & team Credit Suisse First-place appearances: 3

Total appearances: 12

Team debut: 1995 Rising from runner-up to seize the No. 3 position on this list is Credit Suisse’s four-person crew. This year, Vanessa Quiroga directs the group with newcomer Nicole Hirakawa, who replaced Guilherme Rocha as co-captain when he jumped to UBS, in August 2013. “Because of their deep understanding and network of contacts, Vanessa and Nicole can identify trends before others,” one fund manager asserts. “This is what you look for from locally based analysts.” Hirakawa, who works out of São Paulo, and Mexico City–based Quiroga also co-lead a team that wins a runner-up spot in Real Estate. In this sector the analysts report on 19 names. Among the valuation-based moves they made over the past year was a January downgrade of Mexichem from outperform to neutral, at 52.55 Mexican pesos. Shares of the manufacturer of polyvinyl chloride pipe and other petrochemicals products fell as low as 41.64 pesos in March before bouncing back to 53.75 pesos in late July, for a gain of 2.3 percent since their downgrade. Over the same period the sector advanced 10.8 percent. “They are methodical, compile detailed financial models and possess an unparalleled ability to extract what’s important,” reports another booster.