Agribusiness

Debbie Bobovnikova & teamJ.P. Morgan

second teamLuiz Otávio Campos & teamCredit Suisse

third teamFernando Ferreira, Felipe Hirai & teamBofA–Merrill Lynch

New team leader Debbie Bobovnikova, who guides the two-member J.P. Morgan team from No. 3 all the way to No. 1, “is always on top of the details,” insists one portfolio manager. In February the team upgraded SLC Agrícola to buy, at R12.25, arguing that prices of soybeans and cotton — two of the Brazilian exporter’s key products — would soon rise, owing to increasing demand. Through July the stock price grew a healthy 45.7 percent, to R17.85, and outperformed the broad market by 18.7 percentage points. The New York–based Bobovnikova, 30, joined J.P. Morgan after earning a bachelor’s degree in international economics at Georgetown University in 2001.

Down a notch to second place is the Credit Suisse trio helmed by Luiz Otávio Campos. The São Paulo–based team leader “has been following agribusiness longer than most,” observes one buy-sider. The team downgraded SLC Agrícola to hold in June, at R18.40, on valuation. By late July the stock had slipped 3 percent.

Capturing third place is the previously unranked BofA-Merrill threesome co-led by Fernando Ferreira in São Paulo and Felipe Hirai in New York. Ferreira and Hirai, who also leads the No. 2 team in Metals & Mining, “know how stocks behave in the local market,” according to one client. In October the team initiated coverage of Brazil’s largest fertilizer producer, Fertilizantes Fosfatados, with a buy recommendation, at R15.10, on steady demand. By July 31 the stock had advanced 16.5 percent, to R17.59.

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