Richard Edwards & team, Citi

Citi’s Richard Edwards and his two associates claim second-place honors for a second straight year. The analysts, working out of London, impress investors with “clearly formulated research ideas, which are well underpinned by macro and focused on ideas with longevity rather than trading noise,” as one money manager puts it. The team’s proprietary study of household available cash flow has been a crucial driver of its recommendations, prompting the group to conclude that “clothing is the best- and electrical the worst-positioned in the sector,” according to Edwards. The researchers’ top pick is Spain’s Industria de Diseño Textil, better known as Inditex, the fashion group that includes such brands as Pull and Bear, Tempe and Zara. Thanks to the company’s strong track record of sales growth, expansion into premium spaces around the world and successful online launches, the stock “should trade more like a staple than a discretionary company and sharply outperform equity markets in these uncertain times,” Edwards explains.