SECOND TEAM Sara Gubins BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research

Sara Gubins vaults from runner-up to second place. The BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research analyst impressed investors with her caution on for-profit education companies, stressing the revenue pressures from a potential regulatory crackdown. Respondents single out her downgrade of Corinthian Colleges from neutral to underperform in August 2010, at $5.32, partly on the loss of accreditation at one of its institutions. By late August 2011 the Santa Ana, California–based postsecondary educator’s shares had plunged 58.6 percent, to $2.20, and trailed the sector by 64.6 percentage points. “Her recommendations are insightful,” affirms one backer.