< The 2015 All-Asia Research Team
Total appearances: 23
Team debut: 1994Repeating in second place is the ten-strong, Taipei-based UBS squad under the direction of William Dong, whom one portfolio manager in Hong Kong dubs “a titan strategist.” Of the 88 Taiwanese companies the 46-year-old leader and his cohorts cover, Kaohsiung-based Advanced Semiconductor Engineering is a favorite. They are upbeat on semiconductors manufacturers, in general, and favor ASE, in particular, owing to an expected rise in shipments and market share gains. Rated buy since September 2013, the shares had leaped 55.2 percent by the end of last month, to 43.60 New Taiwan dollars, while the nation’s equities overall climbed 24.3 percent. Over the preceding 12 months alone, they outperformed their peers by 9.4 percentage points, rising 15.2 percent. The analysts peg ASE’s shares at NT$53. Another sector they prefer is telecommunications, especially Taipei’s Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., which is among the top-three providers in Taiwan. Dong and his teammates have been urging investors to buy the stock since October, and through April it jumped 20.4 percent, to NT$73.10, outperforming the domestic market by 8.6 percentage points. Far EasTone remains recommended, with a price objective of NT$83, thanks to its stable, high dividend yield, as well as reduced competitive pressures in the fourth-generation space.
