Thomas G. Gallagher Credit Suisse

Credit Suisse’s Thomas G. Gallagher, who advances from runner-up to third place, “stays ahead of the curve and has the guts to make differentiated calls,” asserts one buy-side admirer. Gallagher upgraded Aflac from neutral to outperform in November, at $42.87, predicting that the Columbus, Georgia–based supplemental-insurance provider would improve its balance sheet by selling its riskiest assets. That happened in June, and the shares shot up to $51.18 in early August before sliding to $47.25 at the end of the month; still, they outperformed the sector by 3 percentage points over the period.