Emy Shayo Cherman & team J.P. Morgan

A fter two years in first place, the J.P. Morgan trio led by São Paulo–based Emy Shayo Cherman slips one notch to second. Even so, the analysts win praise for their “excellent work on specific themes,” as one money manager puts it, while another observes that Cherman “does a consistent job of staying on top of things and has great contacts with government officials in Brasília.” Among the stocks the researchers currently recommend are two Rio de Janeiro–based outfits: diversified retailer Lojas Americanas and mobile telecommunications services provider Tim Participações. The former is “less dependent on credit and more on cash, which bodes well in an economy where credit channels are congested,” Cherman explains. Moreover, Lojas Americanas should benefit from the robust Brazilian economy, where “the labor market is strong, with real wages rising,” she adds. Tim Participações boasts the highest growth rate among Brazilian telecom companies, a “reasonable valuation,” new capital expenditures that “should increase the share of data revenue” and “outstanding corporate governance,” the team leader maintains. — Paul Sweeney