Adam Parker Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

Adam Parker climbs from runner-up to third place. Clients applaud his ability to “combine his fundamental background with quantitative modeling rigor and a great sense of macro dynamics,” as one money manager puts it. Parker’s weekly multiple horizon models — which, among other factors, consider options variables such as moving averages and Bollinger Bands over different time periods — are hailed for calling the market bottom in March 2009; the Dow Jones industrial average sank to 6,547.05 on March 9 of that year from a precrisis high of 14,164.53 in October 2007. “The breadth of his work far exceeds other quants’,” affirms another enthusiast. After 11 years at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., Parker joined Morgan Stanley last month.