< The 2016 All-Asia Research Team

Total appearances: 21

Team debut: 1994

J.P. Morgan’s Hoy Kit Mak and his team of ten maintain the No. 2 spot they have held since 2012. Stationed in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, the analysts collectively report on 49 Malaysian names. Their persistently negative outlook on diversified financial services provider AMMB Holdings continues to win client favor. Downgraded from neutral to underweight in August 2014, on rising bond yields and the declining currency, the Kuala Lumpur–based company’s stock had tumbled 28.1 percent by late April 2016, to 4.61 ringgit, compared with the domestic broad market’s 9.1 percent drop. Mak, 42, and his cohort “are independent and objective, with strong on-the-ground knowledge that extends to overlooked small-cap names as well as the large caps,” one portfolio manager attests. Going forward, they recommend that investors prefer Kuala Lumpur’s Petronas Chemicals Group, a specialty chemicals producer, crediting its rising free cash flow and immunity to the weakening local currency. Trading at 6.70 ringgit late last month, the shares could easily reach 7.20 ringgit in the next 12 months, the researchers contend.