Jason Fairclough & team, BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research

Slipping to second place after two years in first is BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research’s four-member squad captained by Jason Fairclough in London. The analysts follow 42 stocks and win praise for “developing a valuation framework that provides sanity in a market that’s been all over the place,” as one client puts it. The researchers rang in 2011 by pounding the table on Irish minerals-miner Kenmare Resources, at £32.70, largely on continued high demand from China. The shares shot up to £59.85 in early July before slipping to £46 at the end of year, for a stunning 40.7 percent gain that bested the sector by a stunning 72.4 percentage points. “The team has had excellent stock selection,” cheers another fan.