The 2014 Latin America Research Team: Argentina, No. 2: Marcos Buscaglia, Frank McGann & team

Marcos Buscaglia, Frank McGann & team Bank of America Merrill Lynch First-place appearances: 3

Total appearances: 16

Team debut: 1993

The Bank of America Merrill Lynch squad under the guidance ofMarcos Buscagliain New York and Buenos Aires–basedFrank McGannrepeats in second place. Following seven stocks in Argentina, the analysts maintain a buy rating on only one: Arcos Dorados Holdings, the world’s largest McDonald’s Corp. franchisee and Latin America’s biggest restaurant operator. This Buenos Aires–domiciled player, whose shares trade on the New York Stock Exchange, is favored for its repricing of rental rates of subfranschised units in Venezuela and management’s aggressive cost-structure review. Aside from Arcos Dorados, the BofA Merrill researchers are quite bearish on the country. “Companies in Argentina should continue to face significant challenges,” Buscaglia cautions, “given the current macro environment, with high inflation, low growth and currency depreciation.” Investors are inclined to heed that warning because the group provides what one fund manager describes as “accurate and in-depth coverage of macroeconomic issues critical to forming an investment opinion on the sovereign.” This year, Buscaglia also co-leads, with David Beker, the No. 2 team in Economics; McGann also captains the third-place troupe in Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals.p>