< The 2016 All-Asia Research Team

Total appearances: 3

Team debut: 2014

Lin He and Po-ting (Tim) Hsiao shepherd their ten-analyst group at Morgan Stanley to a repeat No. 2 finish. Tracking roughly 100 regional small and midcap stocks, the researchers provide “good corporate access,” says one buy-side backer. “They have very good contacts with managements, and they’re great at finding diamonds in the rough, all of which allows you to make money.” The 37-year-old team leaders and their associates are bullish on China’s hotel and leisure industry. Even as business travel is making a modest comeback, He advises, tourism is emerging as the main driver of sector growth, owing in large part to increasing demand from Chinese consumers. Travel-related service and products — such as cruises, flights and theme parks — enjoy sufficient capacity to easily accommodate the 9 percent expected growth in visitors to China this year, which the researchers believe should lead to a 14 percent increase in inbound tourism spending. They project that outbound travel for pleasure will be even more robust, forecasting a 16 percent rise in tourists going abroad, accompanied by a 21 percent hike in expenditures. Regarding specific companies, Morgan Stanley recommends that clients overweight China International Travel Service Corp. and China Lodging Group. CITS should benefit from its distinctive position in the country’s duty-free industry, the analysts argue, as well as favorable government policies. Moreover, they note, it offers an attractive valuation compared with its peers, at 29 times earnings. Their price objective of 82.40 yuan implies an 80.5 percent potential upside to the stock’s level in late April. China Lodging is the squad’s favorite hotel operator, largely on the strength of its executive team, which has done a first-class job of building an inventory of 696 upscale and midscale outlets, the researchers report, pointing also to its valuation of ten times earnings. Trading at $36.06 in late April, the hotelier’s American depository receipts bear a target price of $38.