< The 2015 All-Asia Research Team
Total appearances: 20
Team debut: 1995Under the stewardship of Cheryl Lee, 37, UBS rockets from runner-up to secure its first No. 1 appearance on this lineup since 2005. Lee is “one of the most experienced analysts, unafraid of making bold calls and stepping up as a strategist as well,” one portfolio manager observes. Among the names in her six-member crew’s sector portfolio of 45 companies is Sembcorp Marine, which provides marine and offshore engineering services. Lee and her teammates issued a counterconsensus downgrade of the stock from neutral to sell in February 2014, at 4.09 Singapore dollars, citing project delays. By December, when they elevated their rating back to neutral, largely on valuation, Sembcorp had foundered 29.3 percent, to S$2.89, and lagged the Singapore market by 36.2 percentage points. Subsequently, it inched up to S$2.97, climbing 2.8 percent by the end of last month against its domestic peers’ rise of 5.1 percent. Given rising commercial rents, the Singapore-based researchers are more optimistic about the prospects for real estate owner and hotel manager UOL Group. They reiterated their buy rating on the stock in July, and through April it leaped 22.2 percent, to S$7.98, while the domestic broad market advanced 5.5 percent. Before joining UBS in January 2006, Lee covered Singapore equities for Bank of America Merrill Lynch and other brokerages. She received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science. “In a market as boring as Singapore,” another backer says, “Lee produces interesting, differentiated and thought-provoking strategy pieces.”
