Simon Flannery
Morgan Stanley
 Simon Flannery of Morgan Stanley lands in third place for a second consecutive year. The researcher is “very good at integrating impact of macro conditions on stock valuations,” notes one buy-side backer. Flannery upgraded American Tower Corp. from equal weight to overweight in March 2011, at $49.68, as the Boston-based telecommunications infrastructure operator was considering reorganizing to become a real estate investment trust. Two months later the company formally announced plans to do just that. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and stockholders approved the conversion, and it took effect January 1; by the end of August, the shares had jumped 41.7 percent, to $70.40, and beat the sector by 25.4 percentage points.