SECOND TEAM

Martin Wales & team UBS

In second place for a second straight year, the UBS trio captained by Martin Wales produces research that “sometimes pushes well beyond the limits of consensus while still making a lot of money,” according to one buy-side backer. One example: The analysts raised eyebrows in March when they recommended Actelion immediately after the Swiss outfit announced that its Tracleer drug had failed to help idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis; the stock plunged 16.2 percent on the news, to Sf45.90, but the UBS team told clients the price dip was a buying opportunity. In November, after the stock had shot up a healthy 19 percent, to Sf54.60, the analysts downgraded it to neutral, on valuation. It ended the year at Sf51.20.