2011's Best New Wall Street Analysts

For the past 40 years, Institutional Investor magazinehas surveyed research directors and chief investment officers at major U.S. money management firms to get their take on the best equity analysts in each sector.

Although many top analysts manage to hold onto their No. 1 spot, this year there are 13 analysts claiming top honors in their sectors for the first time — although all are veterans of the financial industry. They have staked out their top spots by making good calls ahead of the curve, responding to clients in short order, and making a name for themselves on Wall Street.

Although these analysts have been in the business for years and have been recognized by Institutional Investor in the past, they are new in the sense that they have never before claimed the number 1 spot in the magazine’s widely followed list.

So, who are the newest additions to the All-America Research Team? Click ahead to find out!

By Paul Toscano & Gennine Kelly
Posted 10 Oct 2011

Sector: Chemicals
Firm: JPMorgan

Jeff Zekauskas joined JPMorgan in May of 2000 and is a managing director. He maintains analytical coverage in the specialty chemicals, commodity chemicals, and agricultural areas. From 2000-2007, Jeff also covered smaller-capitalization genomics/life sciences companies. He currently has 35 companies under coverage. This year marks his first selection as a No. 1 Wall Street analyst by Institutional Investor, after taking runner-up honors as far back as 2001.

Sector: Electrical Equipment and Multi-Industry
Firm: JPMorgan

C. Stephen Tusa, Jr., assumed coverage of the electrical equipment/multi-industry sector in June 2004 and current large-cap coverage includes General Electric, 3M, Honeywell, Emerson Electric, Danaher, Tyco, Dover, Ingersoll Rand, ITT Corp., Textron, Rockwell Automation, and SPX Corp. He joined JPMorgan in 1998, working as initial associate on its large-cap multi-industry team. He initiated coverage of the small-cap/mid-cap diversified industrials in September 2003, with a list of seven companies that included Crane, Pentair, Corning, Lennox International, York Research, Watsco, Watts Water Technologies, and Roper Industries. In 2010, Tusa was a runner-up in the Institutional Investor rankings.

Sector: Leisure
Firm: Citi

Gregory Badishkanian has been a senior analyst at CIRA since 1996 and covers the leisure, restaurant and healthy lifestyles sectors. After ranking second in Institutional Investor’s list in 2010, Badishkanian claimed the top spot in this year’s list under the “leisure” category.

Sector: Alternative Energy
Firm: UBS

Stephen Chin is an executive director in the technology group of UBS Securities Research. An analyst at UBS since 2002, Chin specializes in the coverage of the semiconductor capital equipment and alternative energy companies. Stephen ranked second and third in the alternative energy category of Institutional Investor's All-America Research Team in 2009 and 2010, respectively. He was also a runner up, fifth and fourth place, in the magazine’s semiconductor equipment category in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

Sector: Integrated Oil
Firm: Deutsche Bank

Paul Sankey is Deutsche Bank's lead U.S. integrated oil and refining analyst, based at the company's Wall Street headquarters. He has been part of the bank’s top-ranked global oil and gas equity research franchise since 2000. He was the top-rated integrated oil analyst on Wall Street in the 2011 Greenwich Survey, and is the top-rated integrated oil analyst in this year’s Institutional Investor All-American stock analyst survey.

Sector: Master Limited Partnerships
Firm: Morgan Stanley

Stephen Maresca is an executive director covering energy master limited partnerships (MLPs) and diversified natural gas companies for Morgan Stanley. For the first time in 2011, he finds himself at the top of Institutional Investor’s annual list in his sector.

Sector: Natural Gas
Firm: Citi

Faisel Khan is a director at Citi Investment Research and Analysis, covering the North American integrated oil, refining, and natural gas pipeline industries. Faisel was ranked No. 2 in the natural gas sector in the 2010, 2008, and 2007 Institutional Investor surveys.

Sector: Banks/Mid-Cap
Firm: JPMorgan

Steven Alexopoulos is the senior equity analyst at JPMorgan covering the mid-cap banks. Alexopoulos joined JPMorgan in 2006 from Sandler O'Neill, where he was an associate director covering small and mid-cap banks and thrifts. Alexopoulos holds an MBA in finance and international business from New York University's Leonard N. Stern School of Business.

Sector: Life Science and Diagnostic Tools
Firm: JPMorgan

Peterson is a senior analyst in JPMorgan’s health-care group in New York, where he focuses on small to mid-cap medical device, diagnostic, and life science tools companies. Peterson holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Cornell University, and an MBA and MSc in molecular biology from the University of Oxford. This is the first year that Peterson has claimed the top spot in his sector on the Institutional Investor list.

Sector: Data Networking and Wireline Equipment
Firm: Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Tal Liani is a managing director and senior analyst at bank of America Merrill Lynch Equity Research Group, covering data networking, wireline and wireless equipment. In addition, Liani serves as the head of the technology supersector and as the global coordinator for communications equipment research.

Sector: Semiconductors
Firm: Credit Suisse

John Pitzer is a managing director, global technology strategist, technology sector head, and semiconductor analyst for Credit Suisse. Pitzer joined Credit Suisse in March 2000 and until the end of 2005 he was the semiconductor capital equipment analyst. He ranked as the No. 2 semiconductor capital equipment analyst in the annual Institutional Investor survey for 2004 and 2005, and No. 1 analyst for 2002 and 2003.

Sector: Quantitative Research
Firm: Deutsche Bank Securities

Yin Luo is a managing director and global head of quantitative strategy at Deutsche Bank. Luo joined Deutsche Bank in New York in October 2009. Prior to Deutsche Bank, Yin was a managing director and head of North American quantitative research at Macquarie Capital. Before that, Luo spent eight years at CIBC as head of quantitative strategy, responsible for Canada sell-side quant research and U.S. proprietary statistical arbitrage trading. This is Luo’s first year as the top ranked analyst in Institutional Investor’s quantitative research category.

Sector: Washington Research (Team)
Firm: ISI Group

Andrew Laperriere is a senior managing director of ISI’s international strategy and investment group. ISI is an institutional brokerage firm specializing in economic and political research. Laperriere, who joined ISI in April 1999, heads its Washington office, where he analyzes the financial market implications of fiscal and regulatory policy for institutional investors. ISI’s Washington office has been ranked on the Institutional Investor’s All-Star Team for research in each of its 12 years of existence and was ranked No. 1 in the last eight years.