< The 2015 Latin America Research Team
Total appearances: 20
Team debut: 1993In its 20th appearance on this roster, J.P. Morgan earns third-place honors, improving on the runner-up position it held the previous four years to post its strongest showing since 2002. The six-member, New York–based team is captained by Jacob Steinfeld, who joined the firm in August 2008. He previously worked as a desk analyst in Lehman Brothers’s Latin America corporate trading business and in the distressed products group of Deutsche Bank Securities, where he focused on regional credits. The 35-year-old leader holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and Spanish from Georgia’s Emory University. One client applauds his “well-thought-out analyses,” noting that “the more convoluted a situation is, the more relevant Jacob’s research tends to be.” For his part Steinfeld advises that concerns over projections for slower economic growth, high default rates, lower commodities prices and weaker regional currencies, among other factors, lead him and his colleagues to hold a neutral outlook on the region. Accordingly, they counsel that investors be selective, preferring double-B credits of such cement companies as Guatemala’s Cementos Progreso, Mexico’s Cemex and Peru’s Unión Andina de Cementos. The squad also recommends various high-yield credits of technology, media and telecommunications names, including those of Mexico-based Axtel, Luxembourg-headquartered Millicom International Cellular and VTR Globalcom of Chile.
