Cesar Medina & team Morgan Stanley

New York–based Cesar Medina guides the Morgan Stanley quartet up one level to second place. The analysts are bullish on mining stocks, including Southern Copper Corp., a U.S.-headquartered subsidiary of Grupo México with extensive operations in Peru (and elsewhere in Latin America). “Copper is our favorite base metal, as prices should be supported by supply restrictions and demand recovery,” Medina says. Plus, the stock offers an attractive 6 percent dividend yield, he adds. Also recommended: Lima’s Cía. de Minas Buenaventura, one of the largest precious-metals mining outfits in Latin America, because the analysts believed that the stock is undervalued relative to gold prices, which should remain high owing to a “protracted period of global accommodative monetary policy,” he explains. Medina, says one impressed investor, is “a real expert in Andean coverage. He brings a greater level of depth to the region and stays on top of events.” — Paul Sweeney