< The 2016 All-Asia Research Team

Total appearances: 17

Team debut: 1994

Reclaiming second place after a year at No. 3 is J.P. Morgan. Head of India equity research Bharat Iyer, 47, impresses clients with his oversight of the firm’s 16-member group in Mumbai. For example, one fund manager attests, ”a reflection of Bharat’s strong leadership is the consistency in the quality of this team’s value-added research.” The analysts monitor 110 companies, down from 120 a year ago, and are forecasting that domestic equities could deliver returns in the low double digits by the end of this year, at 12 to 14 percent. Last year the group slipped 3 percent, but that was better than the regional market’s 6.9 percent decline. Key factors influencing performance going forward will include stabilization of global financial markets, they contend, pointing in particular to China’s currency and worldwide crude oil prices. Going forward, preferred sectors are those with exposure to infrastructure spending — cement, commercial vehicles and contractors, as well as certain capital goods providers — on the back of rising government support for highways and railways. “Urban consumption is benefiting due to lower inflation,” adds Iyer, “[and] financials should also benefit due to the 150 basis points of cuts in policy rates over the last year.”