< The 2015 All-America Research Team

Total appearances: 4

Analyst debut: 2012

At No. 2 for a second consecutive year, Morgan Stanley’s Adam Jonas, 41, is “an independent thinker,” one admirer attests. Reporting on 27 U.S. autos and auto parts companies, the analyst wins accolades from another fund manager for his “provocative yet rational, cautious views that saved us a lot of money.” For example, in September 2014, Jonas slashed his rating on Dearborn, Michigan’s Ford Motor Co. from overweight to underweight, citing the company’s significant dependence on the oversaturated U.S. market. The following month he highlighted his pessimistic outlook and lowered his price objective from $16 to $14, anticipating headwinds from Ford’s overhauling of its manufacturing processes as part of the changeover of its iconic F-150 truck body from steel to aluminum alloy. By the middle of last month, the stock had dropped 13.4 percent, to $14.28, trailing its peers by 2.1 percentage points. Jonas’s long-standing underweight position on Avis Budget Group — largely on competitive pressures — also wins investor praise. During the 12 months through mid-September, shares of the Parsippany, New Jersey–based rental and leasing agency plummeted 30.1 percent, to $44.75, compared with the sector’s decline of 8.1 percent.