< The 2014 All-America Research TeamManeesh Deshpande, Venu Krishna & teamBarclaysFirst-place appearances: 10

Total appearances: 23

Team debut: 1993Although the seven-strong Barlcays squad guided by Maneesh Deshpande and Venu Krishna slips to third place after two years in second, the strategists retain an avid following. “One thing Barclays does well is researching dedicated outright accounts — going long on convertible bonds and not setting up a hedge — which really helps us because we’re a long-only shop and don’t short stocks,” insists one advocate. “They’re also among the best at providing benchmark and index information.” Deshpande reports that most of the “known unknown tail risks” of the past few years — such as fiscal brinksmanship in the U.S., a potential hard landing in China and a feared breakup of the euro zone — “have receded in importance.” Now the key catalyst for higher volatility is likely to be the U.S. Federal Reserve’s tight-money policies. “But that appears to be a late 2015 story,” he asserts. For now, “volatility selling appears to be a very crowded strategy,” says Deshpande. He and his colleagues are therefore recommending “overlaying a tail risk hedge on the short volatility strategies.” In addition, they are advising investors to buy U.S. convertibles “as a risk-controlled means of getting exposure to equities.” Barclays’ benchmark indexes indicate that convertibles have been “outperforming the broader equity and credit markets,” Deshpande notes, “and we expect them to continue delivering competitive returns.”