< The 2015 All-Asia Research Team

Total appearances: 9

Team debut: 2000Although Bank of America Merrill Lynch slips to second place after five years at the top of this list, the researchers are applauded for their “objective analysis and very good access to senior managements,” as one advocate puts it. Hong Kong–based Wai (Eddie) Leung, 41, and 42-year-old Sung Hwan (Sean) Oh in Seoul oversee a six-person team that has been advising clients to watch for the impact of capital flows on China-exposed companies over the short term, particularly in Internet and other rapidly expanding sectors. Catalysts for improving margins for the longer term remain companies’ abilities to sustain innovative strategies against a competitive background, the researchers contend. Despite ongoing uncertainty, they expect sector margins, which have been under pressure for the past two years, to stabilize in 2016. In South Korea, specifically, they forecast that companies with significant mobile presence will increase revenue. One name they like in that space is Naver Corp., which has an important source of revenue in its Line messaging application. The analysts project expansion into overseas markets and from increasing monetization of current users. They are less enthusiastic about NCSoft Corp. The South Korean online gaming outfit will underperform, the group believes, because user preferences trend toward mobile platforms, where the company is insufficiently competitive to restore robust growth. Leung is singled out for praise by one supporter, who says, “Eddie is one of the most experienced Internet analysts on the Street. His experience is a valuable asset.”