< The 2016 All-Asia Research Team

Total Appearances: 18

Team Debut: 1999

Capturing second place in this revived sector is the UBS crew under the direction of Pui Kwan (Eric) Lin, 34. In 2015, Lin and Yong-Suk Son co-captained the firm’s Industrials team, which for the past two years included coverage of these shares. They merited a runner-up position, the same spot the squad earns this year with Son and Bin (Robin) Xu overseeing coverage. Lin and four associates track 64 regional transportation names, garnering praise for what one money manager terms their “wide and in-depth North Asia coverage.” They “publish detailed forecasts, make good recommendations and have good analysis for both sector-related, top-down and stock-related, bottom-up recommendations,” this admirer adds. UBS is circumspect on this space overall. “The focus is gradually turning to whether the sector can sustain earnings, as overcapacity may result in price competition — that is, a pass-through of the oil price savings back to customers,” the leader explains. “Overcapacity and a challenging macro environment could result in some companies underperforming and increased chances for consolidation within the sector.” Lin holds a bachelor’s degree in geography from the University of Hong Kong and has worked at UBS since July 2010. He previously served as a global analyst at HSBC and a senior associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers. His squad’s tracking of the industry in China particularly impresses investors, who value the team’s efforts to collect and compile data on that market. For example, another backer reports, the researchers “provided interesting insights from their deep-dive study on China tourists’ preferences for overseas destinations, how their preferences change over time and their willingness to revisit the same destination for a second time.”