When the All-America Research Hall of Fame was introduced in 2011—to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the annual ranking of the top U.S. equity analysts known as the All-America Research Team—it inducted an inaugural class of 49 titans of U.S. research.

Each name in this storied group was recognized for achieving excellence by being named the No. 1 analyst in their respective sector at least ten times since the survey’s inception in 1972. At the time, some inductees had long left both the business and their mark on sell-side research.

Since then, others have naturally moved on—as recently as 2025 when Bernstein’s lauded technology analyst A.M. (Toni) Sacconaghi announced his retirement after three decades and 20 No. 1s. (The last one in 2024.) Barclays’ Meredith Adler did the same a decade earlier with 14 top finishes as a consumer and retail all-star up until 2014. Others remain committed and are mentoring the next generation like senior packaging research analyst BofA Securities’ George Staphos, racking up 24 total top finishes since 2011.

A rare one from that class has become a research institution himself: Ed Hyman, the senior chairman of equities and vice chairman of Evercore, has been ranked No. 1 in economics a record 44 times in the All-America Research Team survey.

These research analysts set the bar high that first year, and entrance to the Hall of Fame remains rarefied air. In the 15 years since, 33 analysts have joined this elite group and, of those, there is only one new entrant to the 2026 Hall of Fame this year: Yin Luo of Wolfe Research.

In addition to Luo’s induction, there are two current hall of fame veteran analysts who have achieved impressive milestones in Extel’s 55th annual All-America Research Team survey. 

Greg Badishkanian, a managing director and head of the consumer sector at Wolfe Research, has earned his 15th No. 1 ranking. He entered the Hall of Fame in the survey’s 50th year in 2021, when he said that success in this business requires “consistent and persistent humility” and, characteristically presciently, an “understanding that yesterday’s successes do not beget or do not enable today’s.” 

“It means you have got to keep your head down and your nose to the grindstone, and you need to keep asking yourself what you’re missing,” he added. According to the respondents’ of this year’s survey, he is not missing much as they awarded him another top spot. 

Andrew Lazar, a managing director and equity analyst covering the packaged food group at Barclays, has earned an impressive 20th No. 1 ranking this year. He debuted in the survey in 2001 and was ushered into the Hall of Fame the year after its inception in 2012. 

After his 16th No. 1 in 2018, he said that “being able to come up with truly unique, differentiated and proprietary research” is what drew him into this industry in the first place. And with equal foresight, he added that “there is always going to be a place for that in the investing world.” He joins three other Hall of Famers with 20 wins each, making them tied for the ninth most decorated analysts of the cohort. 

The newest Hall of Famer Luo, vice chairman of Quantitative Research, ESG, and Strategy (QES) at Wolfe Research, was recognized for his quantitative research by directors of research and investment professionals at asset management firms, one of whom effused that “both the quantity and the quality of Yin's work are truly exceptional.”

“Yin's group produces prolific and interesting output,” said another. “Even when it is not directly applicable, its ideas always spur conversations.”