Stephen Hagger, Ting Min Tan & team Credit Suisse
The buy side says: “They come up with actionable ideas on a wide range of stocks.”
In first place for a second straight year is the Credit Suisse group of six guided by Stephen Hagger and Ting Min Tan in Kuala Lumpur. “They draw on their vast experience to get a good read on cycles,” declares one supporter. Investors continue to benefit from the team’s outperform call on AirAsia, recommended way back in September 2009, at 1.43 ringgit, and highlighted repeatedly since on rising earnings and aggressive expansion across southeast Asia. Through March 2012 the Petaling Jaya, Selangor–based air carrier’s stock had flown to 3.45 ringgit, for a stunning 141.3 percent gain that soared past the Malaysian broad market by 111.3 percentage points. Hagger, 48, holds an MBA from England’s Durham University, and Tan, 43, has a master’s in natural sciences from the University of Cambridge. In 1994 they both joined Barclays de Zoete Wedd, which Credit Suisse acquired in 1998. — Ben Mattlin