Morgan Keegan Equity Research Highlights

Morgan Keegan has 22 equity research analysts who provide research coverage on over 300 companies from ten industry sectors. Our industry sectors include: consumer services, energy, financial services, healthcare, industrial distribution/construction, real estate, security, safety & defense, special situations, technology and transportation.

According to The Financial Times article published May 14, 2010, “It is particularly hard to be successful as an equity analyst in times of grave economic, political and financial uncertainty, such as the world has witnessed over the past year or two.” In such an environment, Morgan Keegan’s equity research team has excelled.

Financial Times / StarMine 2009 rankings¹

Simon Leopold, #1 earnings estimator in the nation for all industries

Jamie Stockton, CFA, #1 stock picker, Health Care Technology category

Chaz Jones, #1 earnings estimator in the Road & Rail category

Simon Leopold was named the top earnings estimator in the nation across all industries. This award measures how accurate an analyst’s forecasts of companies’ earnings announcements have been as compared to their peers.

Three MK equity analysts ranked #1 in their respective industry sectors.

Morgan Keegan ranked third among all firms in the Most Productive Broker category (# of awards / # of qualifying analysts). A total of seven Morgan Keegan equity analysts were named among the top three stock pickers and earnings estimators in their respective industries. Our analysts came out on top in a field of 1,806 stock pickers and 1,819 earnings estimators who qualified for the survey. MK equity research analysts have been ranked in the StarMine surveys for eight consecutive years. This marks the second time a Morgan Keegan analyst has topped the rankings in the last five years.

Simon Leopold, managing director, Communications Equipment analyst
• #1 earnings estimator in the nation for all industries
• # earnings estimator, Communications Equipment category

Chaz Jones, senior vice president, Maritime Shipping and Transportation Equipment analyst
• #1 earnings estimator in the Road & Rail category

Jamie Stockton, CFA, first vice president, Healthcare Information Technology analyst
• #1 stock picker, Health Care Technology category
• #3 earnings estimator, Health Care Technology category

Bob Derrington, managing director, Restaurants analyst
• #3 earnings estimator, Restaurants category

Brian Freed, CFA, senior vice president, Enterprise Storage & Security and Internet Security & Infrastructure analyst
• #3 earnings estimator, Software category

Keith Johnson, first vice president, Industrial Manufacturing analyst
• #3 stock picker, Building Products category

Brian Ruttenbur, managing director, Security, Safety & Defense analyst
• #3 earnings estimator, Electronic Equipment & Instruments category

Wall Street Journal 2010 Best on the Street Survey²

The Wall Street Journal 2010 Best on the Street Survey named three Morgan Keegan equity analysts among the best in the nation for stock picking in their respective industries:

This year’s Best on the Street analysts were selected from a universe of more than 7,500 analysts at over 530 firms. Morgan Keegan analysts have been honored for their performance 16 out of the 18 years that The Wall Street Journal has published the survey, including the last 13 consecutive years.

Four-Time Top Performing Focus List³

In August, Barron’s ranked Morgan Keegan’s Focus List of recommended stocks first among 13 leading national and regional brokerage firms for returns for the five years ended June 30, 2010. The Focus List is a group of stocks selected from the firm’s research coverage universe that we believe has the best potential to outperform the markets. August's number one ranking marked the fourth consecutive time that Morgan Keegan’s Focus List has ranked #1 for the five-year period by Barron’s.

1. Source: The Financial Times; May 14, 2010
2. Source: The Wall Street Journal; May 5, 2010
3. *Figures as reported by Zacks Investment Research, Inc. take into account gains or losses, dividends and theoretical commissions of 1% on each trade. Four survey participants (Bank of America-Merrill Lynch, McAdams Wright, New Constructs and Wedbush Morgan) did not qualify for the five year return ranking. If a Barron's survey participant informs Zacks of a change to the focus list before 12 noon CT, the change is effective on the same day, otherwise it is accounted for on the next day. The prices used are the official exchange closing prices. Zacks calculates the time-weighted monthly performance of focus lists on an equal-weighted basis. Monthly returns are then linked geometrically to produce quarterly and annual total return performance figures. A detailed report on the specific performance of each Morgan Keegan Focus List selection is available upon request. Past performance is not a guarantee of future success, and these results would only have been obtained using Zacks Investment Research, Inc. methodology.
These returns are for comparison purposes only and do not reflect actual transactions. Zacks Investment Research, Inc. has been keeping Morgan Keegan's Focus List performance since 2004.
*Smith Barney and Morgan stanley have merged their brookerage operations and will appear as one entity on the next list.
***Standard & Poor’s 500 is an unmanaged index. You may not invest directly into an unmanaged index.