THIRD TEAM

Derek De Vries & team BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research

BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research ruled the roost from 2005 to 2009 under the direction of Stuart Graham, who left the firm in February 2009 to launch his own outfit, Autonomous Research in London. The nine-member crew failed to rank last year, but newcomer Derek De Vries guides the analysts to a third-place finish this year. The team upgraded U.K.-based Lloyds Banking Group to buy last February, at 55p, on the belief that consensus earnings estimates were too low. The stock had advanced 19.5 percent by the end of year, to 65.70p. The researchers “make a good effort to be nonconsensus, which is good for idea generation,” explains one buy-side supporter.