< The 2016 All-Asia Research Team

Total appearances: 15

Team debut: 2000

A runner-up on the Consumer lineup last year, Credit Suisse’s crew with Hong Kong–based He (Kevin) Yin at the helm earns third place in this newly stand-alone sector. Yin also co-leads, with Arnab Mitra, the No. 2 troupe on the separate Staples roster. With members posted throughout the region, his consumer discretionary squad “is very responsive, on top of the market and has very good company access,” one fund manager attests. For his part, Yin notes that “eCommerce has been a critical challenge to the traditional Chinese discretionary names for years. China sportswear and home appliance retailing have bottomed out, benefiting from lifestyle changes, channel destocking and healthy competition between online and offline.” Apparel and footwear retailers, department stores and hypermarkets will follow that trend, the analysts forecast. However, “we expect it is likely to take a couple years’ time to see the meaningful fundamental improvement,” he cautions. “Hong Kong retailing will remain under pressure in 2016 and 2017” amid a slowdown in visitors from the mainland. Anta Sports Products, China’s No. 1 maker of sporting goods — it sold more than 40 million pairs of sneakers in 2015 — is the researchers’ top pick in this space. Rated outperform and bearing a price target of HK$26, Anta is “riding the trend of lifestyle change and a rising young middle class,” explains Yin. Credit Suisse also cites the company’s strong channel control, product innovation, solid execution and well-motivated management team, which they believe drives its stronger-than-peer growth and profitability. Anta’s stock closed at HK$21.40 in late April.