< The 2015 All-Asia Research Team

Total appearances: 4

Team debut: 2012For a second year running, Morgan Stanley’s team claims first place on this roster. The four Hong Kong–based strategists, now under the direction of Viktor Hjort and newcomer Desmond Lee, dazzle clients with the quality of their research, winning particular praise for their annual “Asian Bank Credit Compendium” report. “Very few brokers come up with their caliber of thematic, thoughtful pieces,” reports one admirer. “Most just give you a lot of trade commentary — and although they publish less frequently than many analysts, their work is far more interesting.” In general, the researchers are steering investors toward regional investment-grade issues, forecasting that these credits will outperform most of their global peers through year end “on the back of an improving fundamentals trend,” says Hjort, 41. Notably, for the first time since 2010, Asian corporates “are deleveraging balance sheets, and funding conditions are improving,” he adds. As a result, nonsovereign issuance in the region is likely to be underwhelming, resulting in “what feels like a scarce supply.” This in turn should help boost valuations for the “preferred asset class” of investment-grade credits. Chinese banks, in particular, “are more defensive than the market gives them credit for, and fundamentals are improving thanks to better capital levels, lower leverage and more disciplined lending,” Hjort advises. At the same time, however, Morgan Stanley’s crew is recommending that clients avoid high-yield Asian bonds, believing that event risks in the region continue to run high and that “the fundamentals trend remains challenging” for this group, he explains. Lee, 35, joined the firm in 2009. Previously, he worked in Hong Kong as a credit research analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland and UBS and as a loan officer at Toronto Dominion Bank in Canada. He holds an MBA from the University of Toronto.