| First TeamJanet Pegg Bear Stearns Second Team David Zion, Credit Suisse Third Team Robert Willens, Lehman Runner-up Christopher Senyek, Bear Stearns |
| Last November, after 16 years at No. 1, Patricia McConnell retired, but her departure does not bring an end to Bear Stearns’ reign at the top. McConnell’s colleague Janet Pegg, 51, rises from third to claim the crown. “I always thought it a true compliment when people thought of us as interchangeable,” says Pegg, who joined McConnell’s team in 1983 after earning an MBA at New York University. Pegg “is just remarkable at explaining arcane issues,” says one money manager, citing her interpretation of a proposal by the Norwalk, Connecticut–based Financial Accounting Standards Board to amend the accounting rules governing convertibles. Pegg concluded that the new guidelines, if codified, would result in lower earnings per share for companies that use certain types of convertible bonds. “Her reports are very useful, very easy to understand and always geared toward stock analysis,” praises one investor. Clients say David Zion, who holds steady in second for a fifth straight year, publishes reports that “dig deep” and provide “actionable recommendations.” In June the Credit Suisse researcher published “The Magic of Pension Accounting Part IV,” in which he unearthed more than $1.3 trillion in off-balance-sheet pension assets and liabilities for companies in the Standard & Poor’s 500. “He focuses on making things relevant to investors,” says one supporter. Rising from runner-up to third is Robert Willens of Lehman Brothers, who provides “clear, direct and simple answers to an incredibly complex topic,” marvels one investor. Buy-siders praise Willens’s reports explaining the tax and financial ramifications of billionaire Samuel Zell’s buyout of Tribune Co. and the plan to convert the Chicago-based media company into an S corporation wholly owned by an employee stock option plan. | |
