< The 2015 All-Asia Research Team

Total appearances: 8

Team debut: 1998After two years at runner-up, Morgan Stanley’s squad piloted by Chun Hung (John) Lam and Rachel Zhang surges to No. 1, marking the firm’s first top finish since 2000. The ten-strong team produces “great research on China and Chinese materials — especially in the steel sector,” declares one money manager. In that vein the analysts are advising that “steel capacity cutting in 2014 was better than expected,” says Zhang, 38. “Year-to-date production is down year over year, and inventory is lower than at the same time in previous years. The continued declining iron-ore and coal prices supports the margin increase.” They recommend that clients favor such Chinese flat-steel producers as Angang Steel Co. and Baosteel Group Corp. and predict that overall call for steel will decine by 1 to 2 percent this year, compared with 2014. “Demand is slowly resuming after the Chinese New Year,” she adds. “We expect the large steel mills will be able to maintain increased margins even as the industry is going through capacity cuts and consolidation, and raw materials prices remain under pressure.” Morgan Stanley’s researchers report on 70 regional basic materials companies and intend to expand coverage of Chinese equities, including A shares, this year. They counsel caution on the cement industry, given faltering demand and prices, and believe that the outlook for metals is soft but stable. Lam, 28, notes that “high-cost producers,” including China National Building Material Co. and China Shanshui Cement Group, “will face more difficulties.” Lam, 28, also co-leads, with Praveen Choudhary, a runner-up team on the Property roster. Before going to Morgan Stanley in 2010, he tracked Chinese metals and mining stocks at Goldman Sachs (Asia). He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Thirty-eight-year-old Zhang joined the firm the following year from Orient Securities Co., where she reported on metals names. She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in finance at the City University of New York.