Eric Lopez & team, BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research
The buy side says: “They have deep insights into the value drivers of utilities.”
Bounding from third place to claim its first appearance atop the sector is the BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research crew of five under Eric Lopez. Based in London (but with analysts working out of Edinburgh and Madrid), the team is hailed for “relevant, pragmatic and not overcomplicated insights,” as one client puts it. Some applaud a November 2010 valuation-based upgrade of SSE (then Scottish and Southern Energy) from neutral to buy, at 1,039.57p. Shares of the U.K.-based power distributor shot up 22.6 percent, to 1,274.98p, through August, and the researchers downgraded them back to neutral, on valuation. By late December the stock had slid to 1,266.15p. Other supporters cite February 2011’s reiteration of an underperform on Germany’s RWE, at €47.97, largely on its weak balance sheet. The stock tumbled 43.4 percent, to €27.15, and lagged the sector by 23 percentage points, through December. Lopez, 37, holds a master’s degree in industrial economics from Université Paris-Dauphine; he covered the sector for Credit Suisse before joining Merrill in 2008. “This team works hard to make money for investors,” asserts another backer.
