SECOND TEAM

Carlos de Alba & team  Morgan Stanley

The Morgan Stanley threesome guided by Carlos de Alba repeats in second place; the New York–based team leader also pilots the No. 3 squad in Pulp & Paper. Clients praise the analysts’ “comprehensive knowledge” and “steadfast opinions.” Case in point: The team upgraded the American depositary receipts of Vale from equal weight to overweight in August 2009, at $19.47, and pounded the table in July 2010 even though shares of the Rio de Janeiro–based diversified miner had already bolted 33.9 percent, to $26.08. Good call. Vale’s ADRs kept rising, reaching $31.75 by the end of July 2011 — for a gain of 21.7 percent that trumped the sector by 23.6 percentage points since the reiteration.