Jamminder (Jimmy) Bhullar  J.P. Morgan The buy side says: “Jimmy is the most responsive, hardworking analyst on the Street.”

In first place for a second consecutive year, J.P. Morgan’s ­Jamminder (Jimmy) ­Bhullar “not only understands a very difficult sector, he excels at understanding the most complex companies,” marvels one backer. In January the 34-year-old analyst highlighted his long-­­standing underweight on Principal Financial Group — he has been negative on the stock since initiating coverage back in December 2008, largely owing to ongoing declines in the Des Moines, Iowa–based firm’s pensions business, one of its primary lines. The stock tumbled 24.4 percent year-to-date through August, in line with the Standard & Poor’s sector benchmark index’s decline.