THIRD TEAM John Ivankoe  J.P. Morgan

Holding steady in third place for a second year running is J.P. Morgan’s John Ivankoe. “One meeting with John and you can tell that he loves following the group,” says one buy-sider. “Having a passion to follow the stocks means that he goes the extra mile to figure out what makes his stocks tick.” Among the companies that Ivankoe named the firm’s top picks for the year in its December report, “U.S. Year Ahead 2011,” were Darden Restaurants of Orlando, Florida; McDonald’s Corp. of Oak Brook, Illinois; and Louisville, Kentucky–based Yum! Brands. Darden shares were up just 1.7 percent through August, but the Golden Arches jumped a tasty 19.9 percent, and Yum! shares surged 11.6 percent. During the same period the sector gained 6.7 percent.